Elemental
by AlexandriaSinClaire
Summary: Katara's world is simple. She manages and sings for a band, a damn good band really. Until her lead guitarist splits and a tall, dark stranger takes his place. We all have a past, but his story may result in the death of them all.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hello there, and welcome to my first Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfiction. I'm rather new at this whole fanfiction thingy, and probably won't be doing it much, but I do love a good story, and that's all I'm really trying to accomplish here, a good story. There will probably be art with this one, perhaps, if I get around to finishing it, and yes, the chapters will be long. I'm not one to skimp, however if they are too long let me know and I will be glad to accommodate needs. Reviews are greatly appreciated, otherwise I have no idea how to improve. With that said, please enjoy my story.**

**I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nor do I own _My Cat_ by Jack Off Jill, or _Uninvited_ by Alanis Morissette.**

Chapter 1

The street was quiet. The old warehouses, closed and barred up for the day, loomed over the street, casting long shadows that seemed to swallow everything around. A car or two drove down the asphalt every now and again, but it wasn't enough to disturb the peace of downtown.

Birds chirped lazily in trees, a few fluttering to the ground to pick at seeds, not all that interested in the pursuit of food. The little ladies and gentlemen in the parks fed them well. Suddenly there was a loud crash, like the shattering of glass and the birds started, flying for their lives.

"What the fuck?" Came a masculine scream, echoing down the long corridor of warehouses. A man stood, his feet shoulder width apart, his jeans were ripped and torn to near shreds, and his shirt clung to his chest and showed off what little muscle definition he had. He stood glaring hell at another man a few feet away from him. The other man wore brown from head to toe, from his dark brown, ripped, pants to a lighter tan top, to the almost black of his leather bomber jacket. Shattered glass lay to their side, a window having been broken and fresh air tumbling in to the room now without the glass keeping it at bay.

"You have totally fucked us over! Do you realize this, Jet?" The first man yelled, shaking his fist at Jet, who didn't look that concerned. Others were in the room as well, three women and one other man, but none seemed as concerned as the screaming man.

"Look Sokka, this isn't working." Jet said to the man who flinched at the sound of his name, so nonchalant on the lips of the person he hated at that particular moment.

"That's because you're being a lazy bastard! Maybe if you worked a little at this!" Sokka shot back, throwing his hand out to the side wildly.

"Whatever." Jet said with a shrug, the thick leather of his jacket creaking as he moved. It was obviously new. "This just isn't my scene ok? Look, it's been fun and all that jazz but I don't want to be in your band anymore." He explained, rolling a cigarette between his lips as he spoke. Sokka trembled slightly before a gruff, though feminine, voice spoke up.

"Let it go Snoozles." Said one of the women, smaller than all the others, dressed in varying shades of green and black, her clothes tattered and torn in a very British punk kind of way. A bandana covered her eyes, effectively covering her milky pupils, and stopping people from getting creeped out at her blind stare.

"We have a fucking gig tonight, Toph!" Sokka screamed at the girl in green, waving wildy at Jet who still seemed to not care at all.

"Let it go." Another voice added, this from the woman sitting the farthest into the room. Her long caramel legs were kicked over the back of an old and busted couch. Her head was slung over the armrest as she turned and pinned both men with eyes the color of the deepest oceans.

"But Kat-!" Sokka began before she pushed herself up from her resting position. Her shorts were black and short, but still more modest than what most girls wore today. Her stockings were ripped with fishnets layered over them, and those were stuffed into tall platform boots. Her top was baggy, draping across her shoulder to show off part of a black sports bra. Piercings glittered in her face and her eyes were heavily shadowed, glaring subtly at Jet.

"Let it the fuck go." She said to Sokka, but didn't look at him as she approached Jet. She stood straight and threw her head back slightly, looking down her nose at the man who was several inches taller than she. She scoffed softly. "Get out." Was all she said before turned away from him, her long mahogany hair swaying behind her, almost reaching her waist.

"Katara, I-" Jet started but she simply threw a glare at him over her shoulder.

"You want to leave? Get the fuck out. We sure as hell won't stop you." She said as she flopped back down on her couch, resuming her former position there. Sokka turned to look back at Jet who, for the first time, looked stricken as Katara dismissed him. He drew a breath as if to say something, but closed his mouth, scowled and stormed out of the warehouse. Katara sighed softly before she righted herself again and looked at the remaining girl.

Green eyes gazed back at her from a strong featured face, almost masculine, but her lips were a little too plump, her eyes a little too soft, and her red hair fell around her face in soft wisps. She was dressed similar to the others, just not as outrageous, but, then again, she also wasn't in the band, so she didn't have to look the part. Her jeans had a hole in them yes, but her top was quite modest in comparison to the others. She was also dressed in greens and browns.

"Suki, sweety, can you contact anyone you know that can play the guitar?" Katara asked, her voice carrying a much lighter tone than it had before. Suki nodded and stood up. She walked over, all toned muscles of a dancer, and grabbed Sokka's hand and drug him behind her.

"I'm taking Sokka so he can cool off too." Suki called over her shoulder as she strode out of the building, Sokka in tow, sputtering unintelligent words at her back. Katara smiled slightly and shook her head.

"Aang?" She asked, looking to the last remaining man in their midst. He had a laptop in his lap and large headphones on his ears as his head bobbed in time to some beat only he could hear at the moment. Katara sighed slightly and ignored Toph's little snicker. The last man, still a teenager really, was dressed like a little skater punk. His baggy hoodie was of the most obnoxious orange Katara had ever seen, and his cargo shorts were almost the same color, but were slightly more brown. His chucks were a bright yellow with blue laces, and a yellow bandana was tied around his head with a blue arrow shooting straight down the middle. Katara had never understood that, but had never questioned it either. She heaved herself to her feet once more and walked over to Aang, she gently pulled a side of his headphones away from his ear and snapped it back against his head. He let out a startled yelp and nearly tumbled from his perch on the railing of the stairs.

"Jesus Katara!" He cried, clutching his laptop to him like it was a precious child. He blushed slightly when he saw her smiling at him and looked down, unable to hold her gaze with his stormy gray eyes. "I mean...yeah?" He asked, glancing back up at her for a second.

"I need you on the look out." Katara said, figuring the little guy had missed the whole showdown with Jet only moments before. "Jet just left-"

"What?" Aang asked, cutting her off. Katara huffed slightly and shook her head.

"Jet left. Pay attention. I need to hold auditions for a new lead guitarist. Keep your eyes out and contact anyone you know, ok? Start ASAP." She said, giving him a pointed look. He stared back at her blankly for a second before a bright smile nearly split his face in two.

"Right!" He cried, stuffing his laptop into his bag and bolting for the door. The air around him seemed charged with his energy and the remaining two women felt drained by the time he had left.

"So, what's the plan Sweetness?" Toph asked, leaning back against her drum set, stroking the head of her snare lovingly, like it was actually alive. She idly twirled a drumstick between her deft fingers, never dropping it as she spoke to Katara. Despite her being blind, she seemed to 'see' more than anyone in their little group.

Katara shrugged then, for Toph's sake said, "I dunno. I've got to get in contact with some other managers before we can go forward. First off though I have to cancel our gig tonight." She growled softly to herself and slammed her hand down on a table. "I swear I could beat that man into a little pulp right now." She had held her temper in check while the rest of her band was here, no one having seen her lose it before besides Toph and her brother Sokka, it still didn't mean she wanted everyone to know.

"I might know someone." Toph said with a nonchalant air about her, twisting her drumstick between her fingers and tapping out a rhythm with her combat boot clad feet. Katara stared at her, slightly bewildered.

"And you're just bringing this up?" She asked, leaning against the table and looking over her shoulder at her blind friend. "Why wait? Why not tell me right away?" She demanded, a growl forming in her words.

"Because you were pissed off. And I felt it best to wait until everyone had left." Toph explained and turned her face in Katara's direction. Katara sighed and nodded slightly then said "Yeah," so Toph knew it was ok. Toph only grinned.

"So...want me to make a phone call before you go canceling our plans?" Toph asked and Katara couldn't help but grin slightly at her little friend.

"Yeah yeah, stop stalling." Katara snapped in good nature, still grinning to herself, happy about her luck for the moment.

"Damn." A deep voice said, staring down, with one good eye, at a sheet of paper. "I need better gigs." He said to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

"Zuko, you seem stressed. Would you like some tea to calm your nerves?" An older man said as he ambled quietly into the room the young man occupied.

"No thank you uncle. I really don't want any tea." Zuko said, counting to ten and back down again as he forced himself to take slow, deep breaths. His uncle Iroh regarded him quietly for a moment, his eyebrows knit together slightly as a slight frown turned the corners of his mouth down. He was about to speak again when the phone in his pocket buzzed, making him nearly leap from his skin. _Stupid new aged devices._ He grumbled silently in his mind. _Why do _I_ need one._

"Hello?" He said pleasantly, however, causing Zuko to glance over at his uncle for a brief second. "My dear girl, how are you?" His uncle boomed, catching Zuko's full attention then. "Oh? Well yes that is a problem. I see, I see. Well I don't know how willing...You don't say. I suppose. I will see what I can do. Tea next Tuesday? Absolutely my dear, take care of yourself." With that his uncle hit several buttons before finally managing to disconnect his call. He smiled brightly at his nephew.

"I have good news!" He said happily, folding his hands over his stomach, looking almost reminiscent of a smiling Buddha. "I have found you a _gig_." He continued, the last word sounding odd coming from the old man, after Zuko gave him a pointed stare, not really liking to wait for news of any kind, good or bad.

"You did?" Zuko asked, not quite as excited as his uncle had hoped, but Iroh was a persistent man and he would get the reaction he wanted out of his nephew.

"Tonight, in fact." Iroh glanced at the clock and smiled knowingly at Zuko. "They said you would receive a handsome sum of money for your participation in tonight's show." Zuko sat a little straighter and the corner of his lips quirked up the slightest amount.

"How handsome?" Zuko asked, but Iroh merely shrugged and turned his head away to look at the clock again. He bent forward and wrote an address down on a sheet of paper and slid it over to his nephew. Zuko glared at the paper and scowled at his uncle. "How handsome?" He demanded again, his voice pitching low and deep, growling almost.

"I would hurry Zuko. Beggars cannot be choosers and right now, this is your only choice if you wish to have money." Iroh said softly, his voice reaching a dangerous pitch itself as he regarded his short-tempered family. Zuko scoffed loudly, snatched the paper off the table, and stormed upstairs to change clothes. He paused slightly, hand on his doorknob before he shouted back down the stairs.

"What kind of a band is it?" He asked his uncle, hoping the man had gotten that much information at least. He could be so scattered sometimes.

"I believe the lady said "Punk Rock"," Iroh replied, and quietly so Zuko barely caught it. "Whatever that is..." Zuko couldn't help but smile slightly and shake his head as he pushed into his room. He stripped himself of his clothing, and leapt into the shower to rinse off before toweling himself off and rummaging around his room for decent clothing. He pulled out a pair of black jeans that had seen better days, but several girls had complimented his ass in them, so he assumed the pants looked decent while wearing them. He grabbed a blood red button up shirt next and buttoned it halfway up his chest. He draped several chains around his neck next and secured black cuffs around his wrists a moment later. He slipped the straight labret through his lip so it rested against his skin, and he also curled his eyebrow piercing back into it's spot. He clipped his wallet chain to his belt loop and stuffed his wallet in his back-pocket. Running his fingers through his shaggy, messy hair he scooped up his guitar case and slung it over his shoulder before grabbing a leather jacket and a helmet from the hallway.

"I'll see you later uncle." Zuko called as he rushed out the door, glancing at the paper with the address on it before slamming the door behind him. But not before he caught his uncle wishing him a productive night and a safe ride. He'd never admit it, but he loved that old man.

He threw his long leg over his black Ducati Monster and made sure his guitar was secure to his back. He really hoped they had a decent set of amps he could plug into when he got there. He knew the area he was going to pretty well, having been a street kid for most of his life before his uncle took him in, he had vandalized his fair share of old warehouses downtown before being brought off the streets and force fed some manners.

He sped through the streets, not caring about speed-limits or cops or anything. For this brief moment he felt like he could actually fly as he sped through town, weaving in and out of traffic in a way that would, assuredly, make his uncle have a heart attack. He slowed down when he came to the warehouse district and gazed at the buildings as if trying to pick a face out from a crowd. Finally he spotted the building he wanted, slightly less run down than the rest but with graffiti sprayed over every squared inch of free space. He pulled his helmet off and sighed slightly, securing it to the back of his bike as he pulled a scrap of fabric, that was obviously once a shirt, and tied it over half of his face. He didn't want to scare anyone just yet.

"Katara!" Aang yelled as Toph darted through the room with his headphones help high above her head in triumph, cackling like a mad-woman. "Toph, give 'em back!" Aang whined, a petulant tone squeezing it's way into his voice as he chased the small woman around.

"Catch me Twinkle toes!" She cawed, ducking out of his arms just as he thought he had her, and spinning away from him to go stomping up the stairs, the boy hot on her trail. Katara merely chuckled slightly as she went through the play list for the night. Looked like it was going to be another night of just doing cover songs since the new guy wouldn't know any of their own stuff. _How annoying_. She thought to herself as she picked from different songs in their repertoire hoping to find something they hadn't overplayed yet. She hated Jet so much at that moment she could have throttled him.

She glanced up and very quickly wished she hadn't as she saw her brother almost on top of Suki, looking like he was trying to devour her face. Suki didn't seem to mind as one hand was tugging on his hair (which was normally styled as a short mohawk), the other wrapped around his back and pressing him closer to her. Katara rolled her eyes when something caught her attention.

A man stood in the doorway of their warehouse, looking, for the world, to have stepped out of one of her darker, dirtier, secret romance novels. Her mouth suddenly went so dry she could have spat out a cotton ball. She stood up slowly and started to move towards him, kicking her brother as she passed, but barely sparing them a glance as her eyes drank in the man before her.

His skin was flawless and pale, and the definition she could see in his chest made her almost drool for a taste of him. His jaw was very strong and angular, almost giving him the look of a predator. His cheek bones were high and pronounced but that seemed only to add to his beauty. His nose was straight, and she could only see one of his eyes, but it was the richest color gold she had ever seen she wondered idly if she could cash him in. His lips were accented with a labret piercing that nearly sent Katara into vapors, his lips were just full enough that that one piercing alone made them just a little more kissable. His hair was black and wild and hung down in his face, nearly covering his one eye and almost completely obscuring the patch that covered his other eye.

His clothes hung perfectly on his body and showed off how long and muscular he was underneath it all without being vulgar. She may have been a punk, but her mother had raised her to be a lady before she died suddenly when Katara and Sokka were children. The chains he wore around his neck and waist clinked softly as he strode forward and stopped just in front of her, gazing down at her. _God he's tall._ Katara thought to herself as she stared up at this guy who seemed to be drinking in the sight of her as well.

Zuko had never seen a woman so beautiful in his life. Her skin was such a rich caramel color he felt like he could just eat her up and savour her taste forever. She was tall and thin, but not sickly so. She had beautiful curves that were as smooth and flawless as the rest of her seemed to be. He ran his hand through his hair in a slightly nervous gesture as he gazed at the woman before him. He glanced down slightly and noticed how tall her platforms were, and almost smiled to himself. _She's so short._ He thought, amused, before flicking his gaze back to her eyes, which seemed to encompass every color the ocean had to offer.

"Sparky!" A voice cried breaking their revere, and both people turned to look at Toph leaping down the last few stairs to join Katara and Zuko. She flung her arm around his waist in a friendly manner and Katara had to squash down the ugly face of jealousy at their close contact.

Zuko stared down at the top of Toph's head feeling slightly bewildered.

"Shorty?" He asked, and Katara felt her knees nearly give out at the deep baritone of his voice. She drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, pulling her raging hormones back under her tight control before she did something she'd regret, like raping him here in front of everyone. She needed privacy for that. Then again, with the look he'd been giving her, she wasn't so sure he'd mind.

"Right Katara?" Toph was asking, making Katara forcefully pull herself from her thoughts to gaze down at her small friend.

"What?" She asked, feeling like an idiot for having to ask when she was obviously right in the middle of the conversation.

"I said, we're lucky Zuko could play for us on such short notice." She repeated again, like someone had asked her to repeat herself twenty times before. Katara scowled at her but stopped when it lost it's effect on the blind girl.

"Right." She said softly and stuck her hand out for Zuko to shake. "I'm Katara. I manage this little ragtag group of punks, and I sing for them too." He placed his hand in hers and shook it firmly, not like the limp noodles she'd experienced before, all of them afraid to touch her because she was a woman. She'd almost broken a few hands over that. His skin was so warm it was almost hot and Katara felt her resolve slip a little bit more, but cleared her throat and pulled away.

"You know Toph, our drummer, obviously." She said, hoping she had kept the bite out of her voice when she spoke. She pointed to her brother and Suki, once again wrapped around one another on the couch, once again trying to suck each other's faces off. Katara sighed. "The guy is my brother, Sokka. He's our bassist. The girl isn't part of the band, just a really lucky roady!" Katara snapped and Suki gave her the finger as they nearly tumbled off the couch. Zuko glanced at them then turned his eyes towards Katara's back once more. _Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't look down._ He kept repeating over and over in his mind, trying to remain somewhat professional after meeting his manager, who just happened to be a drop dead gorgeous woman, and, if he guessed right from her coloring, his exact opposite from a water tribe somewhere. He glanced down as her ass swayed in front of him and stifled a groan as his eyes shot upwards again, just in time to notice her pointing to a kid who sat perched on a couple steps with a laptop in his lap.

"That's Aang. He's our DJ. He keeps us rolling through the night so there isn't any dead air. He doesn't look like much, but he can scratch the hell out of a disc, and work music programs better than any DJ twice his age with twice as much experience." She explained as she jerked his headphones off his head for the second time that day.

"Damn it Katara!" He cursed then blushed and looked down, making her grin slightly. Zuko got the impression she did that to the poor kid a lot. Aang opened his mouth to speak again when he noticed Zuko standing there awkwardly, with Toph still attached to him. "Oh hi!" Aang said as he leaned down and shook Zuko's hand. "I'm Aang, I'm the-"

"DJ." Zuko finished for him, smiling slightly as he shook the young man's hand. "I heard. Nice to meet you." He said politely, and Katara felt goosebumps rise on her skin. A gentleman too, how lucky was she?

_Not at all._ That horrible little voice in the back of her mind sneered. _He'll leave just like Jet did. Like they all did. Don't get close._ It reminded her and Katara felt the wind die in her full sails, bringing her back to a stand still in the proverbial waters. She rolled her shoulders and turned to face Zuko, her gaze serious, her lips (_Her full, sweet lips_. Zuko's mind supplied before he could squash it) set in a grim line.

"Okay look, this is how this is going to go. This is a trial run. We play a lot of gigs, we travel a lot, we get a lot of press. This is your first night, if you can't hack it, or otherwise don't want to stay, tell me and you'll get paid and won't be harassed by any of us." She leaned into his body space and suddenly the scent of him assailed her nose, momentarily stunning her. He smelled like a fire would, the smoke and the cleanness that happens to the air as the pollutants are burned away. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and she jammed her finger into his chest. "If you bail, or fuck up in any way at all, consider any payments you might have gotten forfeit, and consider your dignity gone, because I will hunt you down and make you miserable. I'm sick to fucking death of people just fucking us without so much as a warning or a goodnight kiss." His molten gaze locked on to hers and her mouth went dry once more, her heart slamming painfully into her ribcage.

Zuko smiled at her then, as if sensing his effect on her, it was a slow and easy smile, one that just slowly crawled across his features until it sat smugly in his eyes as he watched her. She straightened slightly and stared down her nose at him, which only made him smile more. _Damn! That usually works._ She thought. He took her hand then and drew her even closer to his person, and, using her finger, he traced a large "X" over his heart with her fingernail and turned her hand over to kiss her wrist briefly. Her heart just gave up right then and there.

"I promise." Was all he said as he straightened himself up and released her hand, his smile fading until she was staring at a completely impassive face, just like when he had walked in. She blanched and stared at him, her mouth slightly open before she realized this and shut her mouth with an audible snap from her teeth.

"Right, great. Fucking perfect." She stammered, and looked around for something to distract her before she blushed hotly. "Amps are over there, set yourself up and we'll practice a few things before tonight. We're just doing covers, so don't worry about learning any of our stuff." She explained hurriedly and spun on her heel to walk away from him towards her mic stand. She drew in a deep breath and started plugging things in to where they needed to be, or so she hoped. She heard movement behind her as everyone started getting into position. Sokka plugged his bass in and strummed a few simple rifts before tuning his instrument slightly.

Toph plopped down in front of her drums and ran her hands over them lovingly, but also so she would know exactly where the head of each drum was, and wouldn't miss while she played. Katara had never heard her miss, or get off beat, but there was a first time for everything she supposed. Aang jumped down from the stairs and started partially setting up his DJ stand. He had a lot more stuff to plug in and rework than the rest of them, so he saved the minor details for when they were actually playing at a venue.

She watched as Zuko borrowed their equipment and deftly and swiftly tuned his guitar to match Sokka's tuning. _Well he's smart enough at least._ Katara thought shrewdly as she wrapped her mic cord around her hand a few times and gripped the mic tight in her long fingers. She stopped when she heard him play a few rifts, his fingers flying over the neck of his guitar with such ease she couldn't help but think he had done this a million times before. She didn't recognize the rift, but that didn't matter as she felt the emotion he poured into it. Rage, sorrow, and a little sprinkling of hope on top and she was in love with the poor man. Damn he could play a fine tune that catered to her dark little punk heart.

She stood then and stepped towards the front of the band and turned to face them all. Aang had his headphones around his neck now, checking the last few little things on his stand. Toph was ready, quietly tapping out a beat on the rim of her snare. Sokka had his hands folded behind his head and a dopey grin on his face. Zuko just watched her like she was a particularly tasty looking piece of steak he had every intention of devouring the moment he was allowed to. She cleared her throat.

"_My Cat._" She said softly, looking to Aang to pull up the song to play a bit for Zuko in case he hadn't heard it.

"Good song." Was all he said, a slight smirk playing across his lips. Katara growled slightly then sighed.

"Cover your ears." She said by way of warning, everyone leaping to do so, and Zuko suddenly caught on as she drew a deep breath, all the way from her diaphragm and let it out in an ear piercing shriek. She screamed for a long minute before letting her voice trail off slightly and letting the note end. Zuko stared at her, his smirk long gone, having migrated to Katara's lips as she looked at him.

"I don't play." Was all she said as Sokka started the opening notes. Zuko continued to stare at her, but started to play anyways as Toph picked up the beat, grinning from ear to ear. She liked how Katara was taking to Zuko, and vice versa. This was going to prove to be one of her more interesting schemes.

They went through several songs like this, before Katara felt comfortable enough with Zuko playing along that she called a stop to the practice. She smiled slightly at everyone before turning her attention to Aang.

"Add Otep to the list." She said as an almost afterthought and Aang only grinned at her as he complied to her wishes. Zuko glanced at her.

"You can scream like Otep?" He asked, his eyebrow quirked up like he didn't believe her.

"Hello?" Sokka demanded, waving his hand in front of Zuko's face. "Did you not hear her scream? Why the hell do you think we started a punk rock band? This girl can scream like anyone!" He ranted, making Zuko grin somewhat at her overzealous brother.

"Thanks Sokka." Katara said softly, smiling at her sibling. Zuko became instantly jealous, but shook his head to rid himself of the feeling. It wasn't their fault their family was normal. He couldn't blame them for that.

"So." Katara said, addressing him now, as Zuko trained his gaze on her once more. She looked cocky, smug, and he couldn't help the images flashing in his mind. "Think you can do this thing?" She asked mockingly, hands on her hips, her stance screaming a challenge. Well, Zuko was never one to pass up a challenge.

"Yeah." he said smoothly, as if playing for them were the easiest thing ever. "I think I've got this." Was all he said, but his smile said a thousand more things, almost mocking her right back, almost saying her band wasn't good enough for _him._ Her eyes flashed and her smile turned feral.

"Then get ready, badass." Was all she said as she spun and walked towards Suki, who pushed herself off the stair rail and followed after Katara into a side room. Zuko shook his head and noticed Sokka glaring at him out of the corner of his eye.

"That's my sister." He said slowly and Zuko nodded slightly. "She's been through a lot." He turned fully towards Zuko now and jammed his finger in Zuko's chest, despite being a few inches shorter than Zuko. "If you hurt you, they will never find your body." Zuko reached up and patted Sokka's shoulder gently, and tried to be as nonthreatening as he knew how to be.

"Your sister is my new manager, I feel it best that I leave our relationship, professional." Was all he said as he started to unplug his stuff. "Where does all this stuff go?" He asked and Aang bounded forward, still grinning.

"We have a truck!" He cried, grabbing Zuko's arm and dragging him outback to look at their SUV, which was a big, black Durango. Zuko blinked, it was a fairly nice car for a bunch of people working out of a rundown warehouse.

"Damn." He said and went about the process of helping everyone pack up.

Sokka vanished for a minute or two before reappearing with his hair spiked up into it's actual mohawk. He had kohl lined around the bottom part of his eyes, and he looked slightly more bad ass than before. He changed his shirt in favor of a beat up shirt with the sleeves ripped off of it, showing off he muscles in his arms, and a tattoo of the water tribe emblem on his shoulder.

"So you guys are Water Tribe." Zuko said and Sokka gave him a 'duh' look.

"The south pole." He explained however, as Zuko glared at him slightly. "We moved here when we were kids." And with that he moved to help finish packing the rest of the gear. Toph vanished a moment later and came back with her bandana removed from her eyes and her hair pulled back from her face. She grinned at Zuko.

"The crowd loves that I'm blind." Was her way of explanation as she shuffled off to flop on the couch next to Aang, who hadn't changed in the slightest. He was once again absorbed in his music programs and was completely oblivious to the outside world.

"Ready?" Asked a smooth voice from behind him and Zuko turned to look at Katara. She had pulled off her baggy shirt and replaced it with a shredded tank-top. She had also replaced her shorts with long pants, ripped up and gathered up and the bottom and stuffed into her platform boots. Numerous bracelets and cuffs wrapped around her wrists, and Zuko noticed the water tribe tattoo on her shoulder as well, though slightly more feminine. Her hair was styled in such a way that if you didn't know better, you could have sworn that Katara had a mohawk as well, though not spiked up at all, it fell about her neck and shoulders in wild waves that Zuko wanted to run his fingers through.

She surveyed the room and nodded slightly. "Ready to go?" She asked and everyone filed out of the warehouse and into the Durango.

"Shotgun!" Sokka and Toph called at the same time, to which she promptly punched him hard in the arm. Sokka squealed slightly and scooted away from her, glaring at the pint-sized girl with malice. She only grinned as she climbed into the front seat. Zuko piled into the back with everyone else and wedged himself between Suki and the door, careful not to touch Sokka's apparent girlfriend too much lest Sokka try to jump down his throat again.

They pulled up to a club some twenty minutes later and all piled out of the car.

"I'll be right back." Katara said as she sauntered inside to talk to the club owner and see where they could set up their stuff.

"How often do you guys play?" Zuko asked no one in particular, hoping someone would answer.

"Three or four times a week." Toph supplied as she picked at her fingernails absently.

"No shit?" Zuko asked, his eyebrow quirking up once more. Katara popped her head out a moment later and yelled at everyone to start bringing things inside. Zuko dove in and grabbed an amp before walking into the club. Several bands were already there, setting up their own stuff and Zuko paused a second, mid-stride.

"We're headlining so just put our stuff in the back for now." Katara called from over at the bar. A short, balding man stood with her, his features pinched, giving him the appearance of having something rather unpleasant smeared underneath his nose. Zuko nodded and walked off to stack things behind the stage. It was remarkably crowded for a club that wasn't even open yet.

"The Dragon is always like this." Sokka said as he came to stand beside Zuko, who merely glanced at him. "Middle of the day, closed for hours, always somebody here." He said and with a huff turned and went back for more gear. Zuko followed at a slightly slower pace.

After they were done they all gathered around Katara at the bar. She looked around sheepishly.

"Sorry I didn't help guys." She said, her voice soft and sweet, and utterly sincere. "He was trying to stiff us out of some of our money and I had to politely remind him of who we are and what our prices are." A wicked glint came to her eye as she spoke and the band chuckled in understanding. "Okay, here's the run down, we go on second, since we're headlining we have the longest set, so make sure not to exert yourselves too much before hand."

"Just make sure you drink water Sweetness." Toph said, elbowing Katara lightly in her side.

"I'm not going to ruin my voice again, thank you very much. That almost cost us our entire paycheck!" Katara said with a laugh and a shake of her head. Zuko watched her, his question written plainly on his face and when she looked at him she smiled.

"My throat got too dry, so when I tried to scream well, my voice cracked and bled a little bit. Almost cost us the show but I managed to soldier on." Zuko shook his head.

"You have to be careful." He growled softly, and Katara's head snapped up and she smiled so wide he thought her cheeks would split.

"Do that again!" She demanded, grabbing him by the front of the shirt and shaking him slightly.

"Do what again?" He asked, bewildered.

"The growl! Do the growl!" She nearly screamed, shaking him even more. Zuko blanched but did as she asked, and growled at her from deep in his chest. She let out a high pitched girlish squeal and threw her arms around his neck.

"Oh Zuko I love you!" She cried and bounced up and down. She wiggled her hips a little bit and did a tiny happy-dance right then and there. "I'm not the only singer! I'm not the only singer!" She chanted to herself and wiggled more. Really, if he were honest, Zuko never wanted her to stop wiggling and moving like she was right then. Suddenly it hit him.

"I can't sing." He said and Katara stopped dead in her tracks. She looked at him over her shoulder and blinked a few times.

"Can't what?" She asked, as if she hadn't heard him.

"I can't sing." He stated again, folding his arms over his chest. She blinked once more and rubbed her knuckle in her ear.

"Can't sing?" She asked. She really was having a hard time with this.

"That's right." He said with a nod. She kicked him in the shin, causing him to double over in pain and glare daggers at her.

"Damn it!" She cried, stomping her heavy foot on the ground. "Then don't growl at me like that!" She reprimanded and if he had rolled his eyes any harder he was sure he would have gone blind.

"Well excuse the hell out of me." He snapped, his temper getting the better out of him at the moment due to the pain shooting up and down his leg. Sokka snickered appreciatively behind him. Zuko growled again and Katara shrieked.

"Stop it!" She cried, grabbing his shirt and making him flinch. She was strong for such a petite thing and he certainly didn't want to get kicked again. She paused in her assault of him and stared at the bandana across his face, as if mesmerized. Zuko's stomach dropped to his toes. He tried to lean back, but she fisted her fingers tighter in his shirt, pulling him closer.

"Katara." He said her name in warning, but she disregarded him. Slowly her fingers reached up and tugged at the knot on the side of his head, keeping the make-shift patch across his eye. The fabric fell away slowly revealing a horrendous burn scar that covered almost half of his face. Katara's blue, blue eyes widened marginally as she traced her fingers lightly across the tough skin around his eye. Zuko almost groaned at how close she was, at how intimately she was touching him.

He had no qualms about his scar, having come to terms with it many years ago, but he knew it still made some people uncomfortable when they saw him for the first time. Katara's face split into a grin and she jumped up slightly to lay a gentle kiss across his burned eye.

"It's perfect." She whispered so only he could hear. His eyes shot to hers and he relaxed marginally. She was staring at his face, not with disgust, but with rapt fascination. He felt as though he should have been creeped out beyond all reason, but for some reason he couldn't be. He had never found someone who didn't cringe away from the burned flesh around his eye, but Katara kept running her fingers over the rough flesh. "God you're hot." She muttered to herself and Zuko's jaw nearly dropped. He just stared at her before a slight cough pulled them both back to the present.

"And now that you're done molesting Zuko's face, perhaps we could enjoy a bit of the night?" Sokka asked, a patronizing tone in his voice and a pleading look in his eyes. Katara jerked away from Zuko as if she had been burned, and with the way his inner fire was raging at him right now, he wouldn't be surprised if she had been.

"Ah, right, sorry Zuko." She shrugged slightly, a lovely blush darkening her cheeks somewhat as he watched her back up a few steps. "I mean, what can I say? Chicks dig scars." She said awkwardly and ducked her face away to order a drink for herself.

_What in the fucking hell is wrong with me?_ She demanded of herself. She had almost thrown Zuko down right then and there and assaulted his person and raped him and oh god the things she had envisioned while she touched his face. Okay, so she freely admitted it, she loved the whole scarred, bad ass thing that men seemed to pull off so well. And yes, she may have developed her morbid love of wounds (healed!) after her mother had died and her father had been injured in the war, but come on! She tried to reason. That just gave him that much more personality and just, raw attraction.

Her drink appeared in front of her and Katara slammed the shot back before ordering a water to go with it. Her band mates slowly trickled away until only she and Zuko remained. She sat, hunched over herself, silently berating herself for her actions. She normally had so much more control than this.

"Katara?" She heard him ask and cringed slightly. She drew in a deep breath and turned to face Zuko, who still looked a bit dazed and confused. He stared down at her as she stepped in front of him and glanced up at him through her long lashes.

"I'm really sorry." Was what she was going to say, but suddenly found herself hoisted into the air by a pair of really strong, corded arms, and crushed to a really hard, and obviously equally strong chest.

Zuko's mind filled with Katara as he stood there, her in his arms, as his lips laid siege to her delicate mouth. She loved his scar. This crazy as hell singer loved his scar. She had touched him and not recoiled in disgust or fear, but had marveled at his less than perfect features. His tongue swiped across her painted lips and he groaned at the taste of her as she opened her mouth to allow him entrance. She suddenly had her long legs wrapped around him and was digging her nails into his back. It wasn't unpleasant, quite the contrary actually. He growled at her again and felt her melt even more into his arms and push herself bodily against him, as if she couldn't get close enough to him.

Slamming her up against a wall he cupped her ass in his hands, kneading her flesh softly between his fingers, making her squirm against him. She groaned and nipped at his lips, playing with his labret with her tongue, before kissing him gently.

She pulled back to stare at him, her eyes cloudy with lust as she traced the planes of his face mentally. _What happened to professional?_ That voice in his head asked snidely, and he had absolutely no reply. Slowly she blinked, and her gaze cleared, and her cheeks darkened with a deep blush before she looked down.

"Um..." She whispered, and he leaned forward to slowly drag his teeth and tongue along the side of her neck, down to the hollow of her throat, where he kissed her gently. She whimpered softly before pulling back again. "We shouldn't do this." She managed breathlessly, her gaze unfocused again, making him smirk in pure male satisfaction. Sadly, however, she was right. Slowly he lifted her off his hips and set her back on her feet, keeping her arms in his grasp until he was sure she could stand on her own. He swept his thumbs across the bare flesh of her shoulders and felt her shudder beneath his hands. She blinked again and looked up at him. He smiled softly back down at her.

"I um...I need to go check on the band." She said softly, reaching up to remove his hands from her person. She stepped away slowly and patted his hands down at his sides. Her eyes flashed to his and she blushed again before ducking her head and bolting for the stage. Zuko watched her race down the stairs, surprisingly graceful in her tall boots. He groaned again and let himself lean against the wall for support and let his head fall back.

"Damn!" Came a voice behind him and he allowed his head to roll towards the bartender. "I usually don't get shows like that." He continued and Zuko turned his face towards the barkeep. The man glanced in his eyes and flinched when he saw the latent hostility reflected back at him in those golden depths. The scar just made him that much scarier.

"Sorry dude." He mumbled and ducked his head to wash out a glass and stack it with it's set. Zuko smirked again before slowly pushing himself off the wall and heading towards the rest of his new band. If nothing else went right tonight, he would still be able to call tonight the best night he's had in a long time.

Katara was laughing at Aang a she was being propositioned, it seemed, by a big burly bouncer off in a corner. Aang was fidgeting slightly, trying not to be rude to the guy in front of him, but clearly not wanting to be there at all. Katara snickered again before raising her voice slightly.

"Hahn, leave the poor kid alone." She said, catching the bouncer's attention. He turned and threw a wink at Katara before patting Aang's shoulder with a heavy hand. Aang flinched and wobbled back over to Katara, flopping down next to her with a large sigh.

"Why me?" He asked of no one in particular and Katara patted him gently.

"Well, you are kind of pretty." She said gently and Aang glared at her slightly.

"I'm not pretty. Girls are pretty. Boys are handsome." He said with a huff, sounding like a child as he spoke. Katara reached up and patted his head gently.

"Sure thing pretty boy." She said mockingly and he swatted her hand away playfully.

"We're up next guys." Sokka said as he went rushing past, diving towards the bar for one last drink before their set started. Katara rolled her eyes and went to stand when she felt a soft hand on her wrist. She turned slightly and looked down at Aang, whose whole face was red at that moment.

"Katara I...I have something to tell you." He said, stuttering over his first few words. Katara merely smiled indulgently and waited for him to continue. He blushed harder, and she thought his face might bruise.

"Well. You see. I like you." He said, but his words were strung together so quickly Katara had a hard time following him.

"What?" She asked, leaning down slightly to hear him better. He nearly died when her shirt gaped open slightly in the front but kept his eyes on her face.

"I like you. Like, I really like you. I have since you hired me." He said somewhat slower and Katara flashed him a radiant smile, making his heart skip a beat.

"Aw, Aang, I like you too!" She said, reaching up to pull his bandana over his eyes in aplayful way. He grumbled and pushed it back up his forehead.

"That's not what I mean!" He started and took a deep, calming breath. "What I mean is, I want to be with you. I _like_ you Katara." He said, emphasizing the word as he spoke. Suddenly realization dawned in her pretty azure eyes and she frowned softly. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a tight squeeze before pulling away and gazing at him.

"Look, Aang, I like you too, I really do. But I'm not...I just..." She sighed and hung her head slightly. She squared her shoulders and looked up at her friend again. "I don't want you to get hurt, ok? I do like you, but as a brother, well, I like you more than I like my brother, but I love you like a brother, understand?" She said, trying to explain her feelings adequately. Aang looked deflated but he straightened his spine and smiled up at her.

"I'm sorry." He said and Katara shook her head, leaning forward once more to kiss his forehead.

"Don't. Thank you for telling me. You're a really sweet kid." She said smiling as she straightened up and pulled away. "I will always be here for you though." She said earnestly as she moved off to gather her belongings and start moving them out on the stage.

"That's rough buddy." Toph's voice sounded behind him, and Aang turned to see his friend standing there, propped against a box with her arms folded across her chest.

"Yeah." He said with a bit of a sigh, and hung his head.

"Don't get down." Toph continued, turning her head away from him. "There are plenty of fish in the sea. Plenty of fish in your age range as well." She remarked and Aang scoffed.

"She's in my age range!" He defended, crossing his own arms now. Toph grinned.

"Fine, closer to your age range. Like, the same age as you." She said, none-too-subtly before pushing off the box and moving towards her drums. Aang blinked after her before jumping up to help out the rest of his band-mates.

They went through a long list of songs, Katara singing, growling and screaming through each one until they came to the last one. Sokka had been off in his own little world, bobbing and bouncing to the music he was playing in his own little corner of the stage. Occasionally he and Zuko would go back to back and tear up a particular part of a song (at this the crowd would lose their collective minds. Apparently they liked the 'dark, scarred' look Zuko pulled off), but generally they kept to their corners. Toph was wailing away on her drumset and Zuko had to wonder how anything could withstand the tiny woman's ferocity. Aang was flailing around towards the back of the stage, headphones on, tweaking nobs and pushing buttons and, like Katara had said, keeping them from having any dead space between songs.

They paused for a long minute as Katara took a long draft of water and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She glanced over her shoulder at her band-mates and grinned somewhat.

"Aang, on my mark." She said with a wink, causing Sokka to laugh and Toph to spin her sticks, a huge smile plastering itself to her face. Zuko was confused before Sokka leaned over and yelled just loud enough for Zuko to hear.

"This is one of her favorite songs. It isn't really punk, but the crowd goes wild when she sings it." He said, clapping Zuko on the shoulder and moving to stand back on his side of the stage. Katara was addressing the crowd.

"Well, I do hope this has been an enjoyable evening for all of you." She said sweetly, her voice the antithesis of her dress-code. The crowd roared at her and it finally sank in for Zuko how large the crowd actually was. The dance floor was pack with people wedged in so tightly to one another there was barely any room to move. The loft was nearly overflowing with people, some even hanging partially off the rafters above their heads. People were pushing in at the door, clamoring to get inside and see the band perform.

"We're going to end on a slightly different note tonight, and I hope you don't mind too much. Gives me a chance to rest my voice." She said with a breathless laugh and a toss of her hair. The crowd cheered even louder, causing Katara to flash her radiant smile, and Zuko's heart to hammer into his ribs almost painfully.

"This song is called _Uninvited_, and it's by the lovely Alanis Morissette." A with that the gently melody of a piano filled the air. The crowd hushed somewhat and Katara drew a deep breath, her voice carrying over the crowd and ensnaring all those present for her song, including her band. Zuko knew the song somewhat, and he followed along with Sokka for a minute before the music swelled around them and he caught on to the beat and melody of the song. He started adding his own variations and rifts that complimented Katara's siren voice as she sang. It had a distinctly dark feel to the song when the band played it together. Katara turned to glance at him out of the corner of her eye and grinned slightly, as if singing solely for him.

"_'I don't think you unworthy. I need a moment to deliberate.'_" She sang softly, watching him, seeming to wait for his reaction to her veiled words. He felt a smirk tug at one corner of his mouth, and though he didn't look at her, he stepped in front of her, pouring notes out of his guitar like a man possessed. His heart was racing right along with the notes he played, with the rifts he ripped apart and put back together in seconds time just to get across his meaning to her. He no longer played for the crowd or the money, he played for the woman standing to his left, watching him with a fire in her eyes that rivaled his own internal flame.

He lost himself in his music for her for a moment before he slowly pulled himself back from the brink, of what he didn't know, nor did he care, but he ended the song on one long, reverberating note that hung in the air like a palpable thing.

The crowd went wild, literally trying to rush the stage at the end of their performance. Katara walked up beside him again and laced her fingers with his. Zuko laughed, breathless and gazed down at her as she grinned up at him. She reached back and took Sokka's hand as the rest of their band joined them and bowed before the crowd. Katara grabber her mic again and bowed once more on her own.

"Thank you very much for having us again tonight! You guys have been amazing!" She bowed once more with her band before they all filed off the stage, people still screaming for them to come back for more. Everyone had to pat Zuko on the back as they collapsed in the back room to rest before removing their stuff and packing up for the night.

"That was amazing!" Sokka yelled, thumping Zuko soundly on his shoulder, grinning like an absolute buffoon.

"Where did you learn to play like that?" Demanded Toph after she had patted his stomach and thrown herself into a chair. Aang nodded violently, agreeing.

"Yeah! That was amazing! Even Jet couldn't play like that!" He crowed, flopping down next to Toph, who situated herself so she had her legs stretched across Aang's lap. Zuko watched them, a knowing look in his eyes, however, slightly glad that Toph couldn't see his gaze at that moment.

"Wait. Who's Jet?" He asked, glancing around to find Katara who was trailing in after them. She froze mid-stride and blinked a few times. She visibly shook herself and Zuko wondered what had happened between the two of them.

"Our former lead guitarist." She turned to look at Zuko, her eyes hard as glittering sapphires. "Until he left and you took his place." She walked over to him and tugged him down so she could more easily wrap her arms around his neck and squeeze him gently. Slowly his arms snaked around her waist and he lifted her slightly off the ground, images of earlier flashed through their minds and he slowly lowered her back down again.

Before they could even share a moment Sokka cleared his throat loudly and stared pointedly at the two of them, his eyebrow raised. Katara snickered quietly to herself before she walked over and ruffled his mohawk in a friendly way, causing him to grumbled to himself and try to straighten it back out again.

They packed quickly and piled back into the Durango. They waited a moment for Katara to catch up with them, an envelope tucked safely into her pocket. She leapt into the driver's seat and stuck the key in the ignition. She tore away back to the warehouse and Zuko zoned out in the back, grinning to himself about how lucky he had been in the past few hours.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Here we are with chapter two. It isn't as long, so I hope that isn't a disappointment. I'm really just writing this for the practice of writing and as a learning experience, however reviews are still appreciated. Thank you to those that have already reviewed, it really made me happy. Please enjoy this next chapter, and let me know how to improve. Also, if someone would be willing to be a beta-reader I would be most appreciative. Thank you again.**

**I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Just the storyline.**

**Edit: Found some inconsistencies with my story so I had to come back and fix them! Sorry if it caused confusion.**

Chapter 2

The light atmosphere in the car filled everyone with a sense of accomplishment and elation. Satisfaction marked the face of each band member, if only for different reasons. There wasn't much in the way of conversation in the truck, only a low murmur of draining excitement. Katara whipped the truck into the back parking lot of their warehouse and sighed happily.

"Well done guys." She said, still smiling brightly at her family, as mismatched as they were. She gazed at each of their faces and her smile only grew. She truly did love these people, this small band that had started off merely huddled together against the harshness of the real world that none of them had been prepared, as young teenagers, to handle. The band had really only been formed as an afterthought, a side-note to the lives they had been living then. But, as the time had moved forward like it was wont to do, they had grown and adapted and learned, and in the end, they flourished. Katara took good care of her family, fidgeting and fretting over them when no one was looking.

Her gaze finally fell to Zuko, who was watching her silently, his expression unreadable at the moment, and she grinned slightly. She reached her hand to the back of the car, intent on shaking his hand.

"Welcome to the family." She said, and he reached forward to grasp her cool fingers in his warm hand. She felt herself blush as he pulled her fingers to his lips to kiss, but an explosion rocked the car, sending them all tumbling against the sides.

Zuko was the first out of the car as everyone else trickled out behind him to stare at the flames engulfing their warehouse. Toph screamed in rage and Zuko felt the ground buckle beneath him, and stared down at the little girl. _Could they know...?_ He thought to himself when another explosion sent them all to their knees. Before anyone else had a chance to react Zuko threw himself forward, his hands outstretched, and frown contorting his features as he concentrated on the fire before him. Slowly it danced out towards his outstretched fingers. Katara screamed and threw herself at him, trying to get him out of the way. Zuko grabbed her and threw her behind him before he spun and grabbed hold of the flames once more, pulling them up and around him in a towering column of fire and heat. Planting his feet firmly beneath him he shot his fist upwards, sending the inferno towards the sky, to let it dissipate harmlessly above them.

The sky was lit with fire for a moment, casting everything in a hellish glow that made the others cringe from their newest band-mate. Katara sat on the ground where she landed, staring at Zuko with wide eyes. He glanced at her then and hung his head and started to walk away. His kind were not really accepted on the mainland, they were not really accepted anywhere. People discriminated against the Fire Nation, but it was even worse for those who could control, somewhat, their namesakes.

_Well it was nice being accepted for a night._ He thought to himself as he strode away, head held high, that is until a solid weight slammed into his back, sending him stumbling forward and trying to catch himself. Moisture soaked itself into the back of his shirt and he was momentarily confused. He twisted slightly to look down at the mahogany head of Katara. She was clinging to him, his shirt fisted in her long fingers as tears slipped silently down her face. She was trembling violently against him. Zuko turned slightly and gathered her up into his arms, smoothing his broad hands down her back, her hair, her shoulders, stroking the tears away from her face as she hiccuped against him. He squeezed her tight and gazed over her head at the amazed faces of her family. The band stared at him, varying looks of shock and surprise stretched across their faces, almost like caricatures. He winced slightly when Sokka looked from the scorch marks on their building to the fire-bender now holding his precious baby-sister. Instead of leaping into protective big-brother mode, he walked over to them and held out his hand. Zuko stared at him for a second before clasping his hand in Sokka's.

"Thanks." Was all Sokka said as he went over to wrap his arms around Suki's shoulders and lead them inside. Aang followed a bit more slowly than the rest, casting wary glances at Zuko, and as golden eyes met gray, Zuko saw Aang flinch. He sighed softly before pulling Katara away for a moment to lead her inside with her friends.

The inside wasn't that badly damaged fortunately, but there were two point-of-ignition marks and Zuko crouched in front of them to analyze them quietly. He reached down and picked up a shard of glass and sniffed it. The acrid smell of burned alcohol met his nose and he winced back from the shard, frowning hard. He lifted his hand to show Katara and felt her hands wrap around his wrist, one so she could steady herself, and two so she could get a better look at the glass.

"Jet." Was all she said as she turned to address everyone else. Their faces were grim after they had heard her utter that one word. She nodded slightly and angry shouts could be heard in that instant.

"Son of a bitch!" Sokka yelled, punching the banister and splitting the skin of his knuckles. He didn't feel it. Aang just stood silent and still, his gaze blank and turned inwards as his eyes swept unseeing over the damage.

"What if one of us had been in here? What..." He choked slightly on his words and swallowed loudly before continuing. "What if we had canceled out plans? We'd all be dead." At that Toph walked over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, squeezing him tightly.

"No we wouldn't Twinkle toes." She assured him gently and he reached up to rub her arms, less to reassure her, and more to comfort himself. Katara moved away from Zuko and looked at her friends.

"Okay everyone, let's start cleaning. The faster we get this place looking like home again, the better we will feel." She instructed. She pointed Aang up towards the second story landing. "Clear away the soot and the ash up there if there is any. I'd like to breath fresh air." He nodded slightly and bounded up the stairs. He pulled a fan out of his pocket and Zuko was about to ask what he was doing when he snapped the fan down and a huge gust of wind blew ashes out of the upper windows. Zuko's jaw dropped.

"He's a..."

"An air-bender, yes." Katara supplied, smiling wanly at him over her shoulder. "We call ourselves "Elemental" for a reason. Toph, the rubble, if you would please?" She said, turning her attention back to the youngest woman, who nodded and planted her feet far apart. She stomped her foot into the ground, twisted it to the side, and pushed with her hands, sending little rocks flying across the floor and out the back door. Zuko knew was an earth-benders, he had learned as much years ago, but that was a memory he didn't like to visit often. But when she walked over and started bending a piece of metal siding back into place his jaw hit the floor. She turned her face towards him and grinned.

"What's the matter Sparky? Didn't know I could bend metal too? What else would you expect from the greatest earth-bender in the world!" She said, cackling madly and pushing things back into their rightful place. How had he missed that? Sokka and Suki grabbed mops and brooms, helping everyone else as they started cleaning the rest of the warehouse. Zuko rushed over and grabbed another broom to help Sokka push broken glass and debris out of the doors.

Zuko heard a sink turn on and glanced over his shoulder to see Katara trailing a long stream of water after her. She moved her hands over and around her, almost like a belly-dancer, trailing water in her wake, and washing the burn marks from the floors and the walls. Zuko smirked slightly to himself and shook his head. _My opposite. Never has a truer statement been spoken._ He thought idly to himself as he pushed a pile of debris outside.

It didn't take too long to put things almost back to normal. Fortunately none of the equipment had been damaged, save for a few spare parts, as everything had been in the Durango. They finished brushing off a few things before they gathered in the center of their small world and looked around.

"Well done." Katara said, offering a consoling smile to each of her friends. She then pinned Zuko with a hard stare and he flinched away slightly. "Why didn't you say anything?" She asked, her tone sharp, almost cutting. Zuko snapped a glare at her face and his lip curled.

"I didn't want to be judged for being a bad-guy when I'm not." He ground out at her, waiting for the inevitable ejection of his person. Katara stepped into his body space and glared harder.

"Yeah well, next time say something." She growled at him, and his mind utterly betrayed him then. _She's even hot when angry._ He thought before shaking his head and scowling back down at her. He blinked a second later and just looked at her as realization dawned slow and bright in his mind.

"You're not kicking me out?" He asked, refusing to let his hope off it's leash at that moment. Katara's face suddenly split into a wicked grin and she laughed at him. He blinked slowly at her again.

"You just saved our warehouse, our home away from home. Hell no I'm not going to kick you out!" She laughed and threw her arms around him again. Unfortunately he could only stand there like an idiot for the moment.

"You...what?" He said, still staring at her, unable to comprehend her acceptance of him. She punched him square in his shoulder and grinned when he winced. "You hit like Toph."

"Damn right!" The little earth-bender said proudly.

"You're still welcome here Zuko. For as long as you want to be." Katara said as she kissed her fingertips and brushed them against his scar. Zuko leaned into her touch minutely before he grinned down at her.

"So I'm hired?"

"Hell yes!" Toph and Aang cried in unison. Sokka gave him a thumbs up, but kept his mouth shut for once and Suki grinned at him. Katara nodded and punched him again, just for good measure.

"Welcome to "Elemental."

XXXXXXXXXX

Zuko sped through downtown on his bike, his heart light and a huge smile plastered on his face now that no one could see it for his helmet. Agni, his luck was almost too much to bear right now. His financial woes had been answered by this band (They made more more in that one gig than he made in three gigs along), he had a full-time job now, and he'd met a wonderful woman who, despite being a water-bender, had just as much fire and passion in her soul as he did.

With that thought, however, his thoughts turned dark and he scowled. He glanced behind his shoulder for a second before he slid cleanly across three lanes of traffic and tore off in another direction. He was heading for the bad part of town, not necessarily ghetto, but damn close. He sped through the neighborhood, flattened against his bike, making a smaller, harder to hit, target of himself as he sought out the house he wanted. He rode up and down the street a couple of times, making sure it was mostly empty.

He wasn't as well known in this part of town anymore, and he didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt trying to steal his bike. He cut the engine and sat there for a moment, before pulling his helmet off and shaking his head slightly. He left his scar in plain view and even brushed some of his hair back off his face for a greater effect. He swung his leg over the back of his bike and strode up towards the door. He rapped on it sharply and waited patiently. A peephole snapped open and an angry hazel eye glared at him. Zuko leaned down slightly, so his scar nearly filled the small hole. The eye widened before the peephole snapped shut again and Zuko heard several locks and dead bolts being removed and opened. The door merely opened a crack.

"What?" A deep voice snapped, and Zuko grinned somewhat. Yeah, he still had it.

"Let me in." He said, his own voice pitching lower and rumbling from his chest. He felt like the big bad wolf of the Three Little Pigs. The door creaked open a fraction more before almost closing completely.

"Why?" The voice demanded, and Zuko detected a slight tremor in the otherwise strong word. The corner of his lip twisted up more and he leaned his face towards the crack, intent to startle the man on the other side.

"Because, Chit Sang, if you don't then I will be tempted to burn your house to the ground, and we both know how detrimental that would be to your little _business._" Zuko replied, just loud enough for the Chit Sang to hear him, and know he wasn't joking in his intent. The door suddenly jerked open but did not reveal the man behind it just yet. Zuko schooled his face to impassivity and stepped over the threshold, and immediately to the side, just in case Chit Sang decided to do something stupid. The large man stood there, rigid as he shut the door and didn't take his eyes off Zuko. Despite the fact that Zuko was a few inches shorter than the giant man in front of him, it was obvious as to who was the more intimidating of the two.

Chit Sang pulled his lips down into an exaggerated frown as he tried to glare at Zuko. Zuko merely smirked and turned away from the man, clearing dismissing him as a threat as he gazed around the sparse little room. Nothing had really changed since he had been here years ago. They were standing in a living room that was littered with junk, magazines, old pizza boxes. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in ages. One thing Zuko could say for the man, however, is that he was just smart enough to keep himself from getting caught. He had no drugs just lying about as often the pushers did, and any weapons he had, Zuko knew, were squirreled away just in case someone uninvited staggered in.

"I thought you got out." Chit Sang asked and Zuko glanced at him over his shoulder, a measuring stare. He shrugged slightly before looking away again.

"I need information." Was Zuko's way of replying. It answered his question, in a way. Chit Sang frowned even more, his little beady eyes narrowing slightly.

"Why?" He demanded, trying to sound brave and hoping he did. He hated dealing with Zuko, anyone who had dealt with the man in previous years usually ended up in serious trouble or out of business completely. And, as much as he hated the way he did it, Chit Sang had a family to support. Zuko trailed his fingers lightly over the back of a worn couch, letting his short nails catch a bit in the fabric.

"Someone tried to kill me tonight." Zuko said evenly. He mentally cursed himself for almost saying Katara's name, but he'd been part of this world far too long to jeopardize a third party. He knew better than that. His gaze hardened into twin golden points at he pinned Chit Sang beneath the weight of his scarred visage. "I just want information. I'm not threatening you...or your family. Tell me what you can about a guy named Jet, formerly in the band "Elemental", and I promise you'll get money and a modicum of protection." Zuko said as he walked toward the other man, standing before him and barely gazing up at him. Chit Sang fidgeted and his eyes darted around the sparse room.

"How much protection?" Chit Sang asked, looking back down at Zuko, who shrugged minutely.

"I can't guarantee a lot, but I can guarantee you won't have to worry about the person you're giving information on." He said, and held his hand out for Chit Sang to shake. The other man quivered almost imperceptibly as he stared at the broad hand he knew could cause so much destruction. He sighed softly and shook Zuko's hand. Once he made a promise Chit Sang knew Zuko would never break it, no matter what that promise was.

"Fine. Come back in two days. Not here, meet me at the courts." And with that he jerked open the door for Zuko to leave. Zuko inclined his head to Chit Sang before ducking his face away and trotting down the stairs towards his bike, which was still perfectly intact.

He gunned the engine and tore off down the street, the front of his bike lifting in his haste to get home. Chit Sang watched him go, followed the trail of red light his bike left behind and shook his head. He shut the door quietly and locked it behind him, and turned in for bed, clinging tightly to his girlfriend that night.

XXXXXXXXXX

Zuko woke the following morning, groggy and incoherent, to his phone buzzing against the whole side of his face. He jerked himself up in his bed and glared at the phone and the number he didn't know. He snapped the device to his face and answered in a voice that was deep and husky from sleep.

"Well good morning to you too sunshine." A chipper voice greeted him and it took him a moment before he knew who it was.

"Katara?" He asked, turning to look at his clock. It was 10am and he felt awful. He had only had a few hours of sleep, and while he generally rose with the sun, he hadn't gotten home until almost sunrise the previous night. He was still tired!

"I thought your people rose with the sun!" She said, giggling to herself as her words mimicked his train of thought.

"We do when we've actually slept the night before." He grumbled, running his hand through his hair and scratching absently at his head. "Why are you calling?" He asked after a moment and a good stretch.

"Practice today." She said succinctly, laughing softly in his ear and making it really hard for him to concentrate on her words. "You need to start learning out songs. I've pushed back our next gig, but only by a few hours so you need to get down here as soon as you can to practice. We've only got a day." She explained and Zuko tried his damnedest to pay attention to her words and not the lilting tone on her voice. He groaned and pressed the heel of his hand into his crotch, trying to cease the flow of thoughts, and blood, that was making him hard as a rock currently.

"Right. Songs." He murmured and she laughed again, sending a piercing shot of fire straight to his already swollen member.

"Come on Zuko, rise and shine." She teased gently and he could easily picture her playful smile stretching across her lips as she spoke.

"Oh, I've got the rise part down. It's the shining I'm having issues with." He groused and flopped back into his pillows, abandoning his fruitless efforts at stemming his erection. He heard her choke on a laugh and snicker into the phone. He scowled but before he could snap at her she spoke.

"Aw, you poor thing, do you need help with that?" Her question was innocent, her tone was anything but and Zuko nearly winced in pain as his stomach clenched and his erection jumped at the thought. He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and sighed loudly. She giggled again. Agni this was the worst torture he had ever endured, and all at the hands of a little slip of a woman.

"Katara." He growled at her, rubbing his forehead gently, trying to think about anything but her. "You're mean." He teased gently, unable to help himself. She laughed outright and he heard her shift the phone to her other hand.

"I'll make it up to you later." She whispered, her words slithering down his spine to curl up in his inner heat, stoking his already raging fire and sending another shot of pleasure coursing through his body. She hadn't even touched him yet! He clenched his teeth and let his breath out in a hiss.

"Yes." He said, voice grinding and rumbling. "You will." She laughed again and he groaned quietly as he wrapped his hand around his shaft, stroking up gently.

"I'll see you soon Zuko." She let his name roll off her lips in a tantalizing way that had wonderfully illicit images dancing and writhing around in his head.

"Soon." He promised and then the phone line went dead in his hand. He growled long and low and stroked himself again, his grip tightening as he twisted his hand around his member and back down again. He wondered of her hands would be gentle or rough on him, if the cool press of the metal in her lip would feel nice against the fire in his veins. He imagined her body to be cool and smooth against his as her legs gripped his waist, and her nails bit into the flesh of his back. His spine arched as he imagined the feel of her sweet little mouth kissing and licking her way over his body, sucking gently on his cock and he wondered if she would be wild enough to let him cum in her mouth. He increased his tempo then jerked and groaned as his body released itself, and he felt oddly unsatisfied with the outcome of his ministrations. He pushed himself off his bed and staggered into the shower, letting the hot water run over his body and wash away the evidence of this morning's activities. He scrubbed himself quickly before getting out and toweling himself off. He grabbed a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt and tugged them on over his body. He didn't bother with boxers, or briefs, he preferred the freedom of commando. He pulled on his boots and grabbed his wallet and headed out the door.

"Zuko!" His uncle called, hurrying out of the kitchen as he saw his nephew pass. Zuko paused for a moment and allowed a slight smile for his uncle to reach his eyes.

"Good morning uncle." He said politely, bowing his head slightly to his elder.

"Where are you going so early this morning?" Iroh asked, looking over his nephew for any signs of distress. He found none and smiled slightly to himself.

"Band practice uncle." Zuko grinned in earnest and Iroh felt his pride swell a little more for his nephew, practically his son. "It seems they want to keep me for now." Iroh laughed softly.

"Would you like breakfast before you go?" He asked, gesturing towards the kitchen where the tempting smells of bacon and eggs reached Zuko's nose. He glanced at his uncle before conceding and heading towards the kitchen to grab a plate and wolf down some food before he left. Iroh watched as his nephew thrummed with excitement, having not seen him so happy in many, many years.

"I take it everything has worked out for the best?" Iroh asked with a smile as Zuko glanced up at him and nodded.

"They like the way I play. Toph is there." He glared playfully at his uncle. "Thanks for that warning." He groused, but smiled in good nature at Iroh's laugh. "Sokka is a hell of a bass player, and their DJ is just as good as any I've ever seen before. And their lead singer, Katara, she's..." He trailed off slightly as his uncle gave him that look. He knew that look and shook his head violently. Iroh merely raised an eyebrow in question. "Oh no, she's the manager uncle! It isn't like that." He said, conveniently forgetting all that had transpired between them the night before. While it hadn't really been much, the sexual tension and attraction between the two of them was enough to drown someone in. He suddenly felt bad for the rest of the band that had been forced to endure their passionate exchanges. He glanced up to see if his uncle had seen his guilty conscious flash in his eyes, but Iroh's face was skillfully blank. Zuko scowled.

"Shut up." He said and finished off the last of his eggs. Iroh merely laughed and shook his head slightly, grinning at Zuko.

"I did not say anything nephew." He said, his eyes dancing with a knowing that Zuko would, or could, never hope to understand. He shook his head and cleaned up after himself, washing his dishes off and placing them in the dishwasher. He never understood why his uncle made him do that, but he did so anyways. He patted his uncle on his shoulder before he headed towards the door once more, grabbing his keys off the divider between the hallways and the living room.

"I'll see you tonight uncle." Zuko called over his shoulder and shut the door. Iroh merely beamed after him, having been well versed in the signs of young love long ago. His nephew had finally found someone. _Grandchildren!_ His mind chanted over and over as he hummed a merry tune to himself.

Zuko pulled up behind the warehouse and parked his bike next to the big, black Durango. He swung his leg over the bike and strode inside to see his band-mates, already setting up and playing a few tunes.

"Sorry I'm late." Zuko said as he tossed a large bag of bagels down on the table before him. "My uncle kept me late, and I decided to grab breakfast." He explained swiftly but got no further than that as Sokka let out an excited squeal and dove for the bag. Katara merely glared at the back of her brother. Soon his clothes were covered in bits of bagel along with other stains that no one really wanted to identify. Sokka was his usual sloppy self.

"Food!" He said as he ripped apart a bagel and smeared cream cheese on it. He turned to Zuko with adoring eyes and Zuko flinched slightly. "I love you man." Was all Sokka said as he crammed food into his mouth. Zuko felt his eye twitch slightly.

"Don't get all creeped out Sparky." Toph said, coming up to his side and punching him in the arm by way of greeting. Her clothing was about as immaculate as Sokka's, but the suit jacket she had over a tattered t-shirt belied her flair for British punk. "Sokka just really likes food." She said as she went to grab a bagel then paused, her fingers twitching slightly. She sighed. "Can someone grab me a blueberry bagel?" Aang reached past her and pressed a bagel into her hands. She smiled and Zuko noticed a very small blush stain her cheeks prettily. She punched him again for no reason and Zuko winced, rubbing his arm.

"Hey!" He said, rubbing the pain from his arm away.

"Shut up!" She snapped, before slouching off to sit at her drums and tap out a tune with her fingers while she wolfed down her breakfast. He stared after her, grinning at her reaction.

"I didn't say anything." He reminded her and Toph stuck her tongue out at him. He chuckled softly before turning back around only to come face-to-face with Katara, a sly smile painted across her face. Suddenly her hands were pressed against his chest and he felt his heart trip over itself as he stared down into her bottomless eyes.

"That was a very sweet thing you did for us Zuko." Katara said smiling softly, moving to balance on the tips of her toes as she ghosted a kiss along the bottom edge of his jaw. Katara was gorgeous as usual, wearing long black shorts that cut off at her knees, a blue tank top hugged her chest and her usual tall boots crawled up her legs. He growled softly as her fingers brushed so lightly up his chest and across his neck he almost didn't feel them. However, her fingers did leave a burning trail of fire in their wake and Zuko thought he was about to ignite into a roaring inferno if she didn't stop soon. He reached up and caught her fingers in his hands to still her movements. Her eyes traveled slowly to his as he stared down at her, his gaze smoldering like a barely banked fire. Their breath mingled between them and he bent his head forward slightly before she smiled and darted away from him, taking his heat with her. He stood there, too shocked to move for a moment before he took off after her, and chased her around the room for a moment. She went to leap up the stairs but he caught her around the waist and tackled her into the couch.

A laugh erupted from her throat, loud and happy. He wedged his knee between her legs and ground his thigh against her center, causing her laugh to break off into a breathless gasp. She gazed up at him, her eyes cloudy as a lazy smile stretched her lips. He bent down and kissed her forehead before pushing himself up and walking back to the rest of the band. He looked around.

"Are we ready to practice?" He asked, and Sokka snickered to himself off in the corner. It wasn't often he got to see his sister meet her match, and the murderous look she was directing at the fire-bender's back was enough to peel paint.

They practiced for hours, Katara seemed intent of driving Zuko into the ground, and in the process, she was wearing out her band as well. They were all drenched in sweat, panting and tired. When Katara snapped at Aang for the next song Sokka whined.

"No! No more! We need a break woman!" He said, ripping his bass off of his shoulder and falling backwards. He laid on the ground for a long moment while the others voiced their agreement.

"Yeah, Sugar Queen, we're tired. You try keeping a beat when you're bone tired!" Toph added, dropping her sticks into a bag and rubbing her fingers then her toes. "Poor feet..." She murmured to herself as Katara rolled her head back and sighed.

"Fine!" She relented, looking at her friends sprawled out in various positions of exhaustion. Zuko was rubbing his shirt through his hair, having long abandoned it from the heat they had created. Her fingers burned to touch his glistening flesh as he stood there, not really paying attention to her. He looked over at everyone else and sighed softly.

"Why don't we all get lunch?" He asked and Sokka immediately leapt at the idea of food.

"Yes! Food! Let's do that instead!" He practically threw his bass onto it's stand before grabbing Suki's hand and dragging her out to the car. Aang chuckled to himself before to walked over to Toph and offered her his arm to take, which she readily accepted. Zuko turned back to look at Katara who was still glaring at him. He smiled softly at her and extended his hand towards her.

"Truce?" He asked, searching her face. She frowned again then grinned and walked over to him, taking his hand and wrapping it around her shoulders.

"For the moment." She said sweetly, gazing up at him with adoring eyes. Normally he would find that look highly attractive, but on Katara, at that moment, he was worried for his well being. She gave his waist and gentle squeeze and her smile turned softer and Zuko relaxed minutely. They walked to the car like that and he paused when he noticed the front seat was open for him. He smirked to himself and jumped in beside Katara as she started the truck and drove off.

**End Note: So it's a little short for my standards, but I couldn't think of much else to write, and I didn't want it to seem more hurried than it already was. There will be much more action next chapter, lots more bending, and maybe even a little more sexual tension. My goodness, you say, _more_ sexual tension? Why yes indeed. I intend on making it as hard (literally and figuratively) on Katara and Zuko as I possibly can. They are going to have to work towards an actual relationship. And don't worry, all those out there who want their Zutara to be fraught with vicious battles between the two of them well let me assure you there will be. They're aren't opposites for nothing. Anyways, thank you very much for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: Ta-da! Another instillation of my fiction. I am really happy that people are taking time to read this fic. I'm trying to write it as realistically as I can. I will freely admit, my time on the streets was many MANY (ok not that many) years ago, and things can change drastically in a month, so if things seem a little outdated...well...they are. Let me just say, however, that as I write this, this fic is not about pity. It is about the latent strength we as human beings carry in our bodies and souls. It is about our ability to adapt and to change our situations if they are not what we wish them to be. It is about our ability to rise about the trials and tribulations that are put before us and to become that beacon of hope to others who are still struggling behind us.**

**Ahem, I'm done now. Without any further adieu here is Chapter 3.**

Chapter 3

Zuko sighed softly and let his chin fall against his chest. He had finally made it home, finally, after Katara had once again tried to kill him with practice and innuendos. That woman was utterly and completely one of the most infuriating people he had ever met in his life, and he was related to a few of the absolute worst. He unhooked the chin strap and pulled his helmet over his head but didn't quite move from his bike just yet. Something tingled along the edge of the senses he had developed in all of his years on the street. A flash of movement out of the corner of his eye had him diving off his bike in a roll towards the sidewalk and behind the building across the street from his home. Fire erupted in his hands and scorched the brick siding of the building he was pressed against. He listened intently, honing in on the shuffle of feet; he could tell the person didn't know exactly where they were going, or where Zuko had gone. He held his breath as the flames engulfing his hands dimmed to a warm glow against his flesh. A foot rounded the corner and Zuko exploded into action.

He grabbed the individual by the back of his neck and around his wrist and spun him quickly, kicking his feet out from under him as he smashed the guy against the brick wall. He crushed his face into the brick before it dawned on him who he was attacking exactly. He released Chit Sang and hauled him back to his feet, spinning him again before slamming him back against the wall once more, his momentary anger bolting off in a different direction.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Zuko snarled as he felt new rage swelling in his chest. He didn't want these people, these shadows from his horrible past knowing where he lived now, knowing how to find him easily. Chit Sang raised his hands in a sign of surrender and shook his head slowly, blood trickling down from a gash in his eyebrow.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I had to find you!" He said, waving his hands frantically now, trying to stave away another assault on his person. He looked down at Zuko and saw the fire smoldering in his gaze and knew he had to talk fast. While Chit Sang was from the Fire Nation as well, he wasn't a bender, but he knew well enough the fury and rage they were all burdened with. "It's about Jet." He pleaded slightly, trying to convince Zuko not to roast him to the wall he stood against.

Zuko seemed to consider this for a long minute before Chit Sang saw him physically reign in his temper and take a step back, brushing imaginary wrinkles out of his shirt like nothing had just happened between them. Chit Sang fidgeted slightly and looked around the open street, watching as cars rolled past leisurely.

"Out here?" He asked and Zuko snapped a burning gaze on him again. Chit Sang sighed and his shoulders slumped somewhat. He drew in a deep breath to steady himself and started with the news he really didn't want to give Zuko.

"Jet is part of a group that calls themselves the 'Freedom Fighters'. They are the biggest competitors against your father's-" He was cut off when Zuko let his breath out in a foreboding hiss of air. Chit Sang cleared his throat. "Against Ozai Enterprises, at least in their illegal dealings." He amended slightly. He watched as Zuko's body became more and more rigid with each word that passed from his lips and filled the space between them with a tension that was palpable. Zuko's fists were clenched and his jaw was tensed so tight that Chit Sang could see his veins start to bulge.

"I should be thanking him then." Zuko hissed, hating that there was yet another person he would have to keep a close eye on because of his father. He cursed under his breath and turned to watch another car go driving past his house, his face set in a fierce scowl. "Is that it?" He asked without turning to look at Chit Sang again.

"No." Came the quiet reply and Zuko cringed a bit. "Apparently he hates the Fire Nation so much he's willing to kill any fire-benders he meets. That may be why he tried to kill you Zuko." He offered and Zuko scoffed slightly, running his hand through his already messy hair.

"Right. Great." He muttered, completely unimpressed with what he had just learned. His mind tumbled the words around and around in his head until he was sick of them. Killing fire-benders, as if that hadn't happened enough in the streets when the first uprising had happened against Ozai Enterprises. Agni, was he never going to get away from his father? He sighed and hung his head, scuffing his foot in the dirt for a second he looked back up at Chit Sang who stood there awkwardly, as if debating on waiting to see if he got paid, or if it were a better idea to just beat his feet back to his moderately safe little house. Zuko sighed again and pulled out his wallet. Removing several bills from it, he reached to shake Chit Sang's hand before drawing away.

"Thanks." He said with a small nod of his head to Chit Sang who just looked at his hand like it had turned to gold. Zuko really liked having a well paying career now.

"Th-Thank you Zuko." He stammered over his words as he stuffed his hand in his pocket. Zuko glanced at his face and scoffed.

"You might want to wash your face before your girl asks if you got into a fight." Zuko said, trying his best to be courteous when all he really wanted was to set something on fire and watch it burn down to ashes. Chit Sang's hand brushed against his face and smeared away some of the blood there, he nodded vaguely.

"Yeah. Thanks." He murmured before he turned and began to walk away from Zuko, who waited for the bigger man to be out of sight before he strode across the road and walked into his house. His uncle called from the living room when he opened the door.

"It's me uncle." Zuko said raising his voice slightly so he was sure his uncle would hear him. He sighed and leaned against the door as he closed it. The words 'killing fire-benders' chased themselves around and around the inside of his head until he was sure his mind would just shut down. Iroh walked around the corner a moment later and watched Zuko silently, his hands folded in front of his chest and a small frown marring his face.

"Is there something troubling you nephew?" Iroh asked, his voice steady and rumbling deep in his barrel chest. Zuko flinched slightly, and Iroh scowled harder. He knew Zuko better than anyone had before, and he knew when his nephew was troubled. "What is wrong, Zuko?" He asked again as he settled his hand on Zuko's shoulder, a shoulder that had already born so much weight over the years, far more weight than any young man should ever had to carry on his own. But Zuko had done so with stoic silence, taking his trials and tribulations without complaint and rising above them at every occasion.

Zuko was silent for a long moment, and Iroh did not press the issue. He knew Zuko would speak when he was ready, and not a moment sooner than that. Slowly, Zuko drew a breath, released it in a puff of smoke and drew another deep breath to speak.

"Am I a bad person uncle?" He asked, as he gazed somewhere off to Iroh's left. He focused on nothing, but a thousand thoughts flickered behind his eyes, and Iroh caught every one.

"Sometimes, Zuko, good people make bad choices." Iroh began slowly, squeezing Zuko's shoulder gently to get the young man's attention and only when Zuko looked up did he continue. "And it is very hard for those good people to feel like they have redeemed themselves from the bad choices they have made. But it does not make them bad. Zuko you have redeemed yourself countless times over the past few years and have grown into a fine young man, one that I would be proud to call my son, if I could. Do not let such dark thoughts cloud your mind with worry and doubt for yourself." He raised his other hand so both of his hands were on Zuko's shoulders, a gentle reassuring weight. "You are a good man." Zuko seemed to consider these words for a long moment before he let out a breath he hadn't even been aware he had been holding. Before moving away slightly, he managed a slight smile for his uncle before reaching up to pat his hands, before moving away slightly.

"What would you like for dinner uncle?" Zuko asked as he shrugged out of his jacket and placed his helmet on the kitchen table, next to the keys he had just thrown down. Iroh smiled slightly and followed Zuko into the kitchen.

"How about stir-fry? I purchased some excellent peppers at the market today that are so ripe!" He said, dragging out the vowels in 'so' to emphasize his point. Zuko grinned slightly and shook his head as he pulled out a knife and rummaged around in the fridge for ingredients.

Tonight he would rest his body and mind and try to organize his thoughts and figure out what he was going to do about his most recent problem, namely a gang-banger that wanted him and all of his people dead in a ditch somewhere. Would he never escape from his past?

xxxxxxx

Zuko once again awoke to his phone buzzing against his head the following morning. He cursed silently under his breath and groped for the device before hitting a lot of buttons and pressing it to his ear.

"Mornin' Sparky!" Came the chipper voice on the other side and Zuko groaned, slamming his face further into his pillow.

"Can't you guys let me sleep?" He demanded, although his voice was muffled by the fabric and feathers.

"Apparently not. Sugar Queen wanted me to call and make sure you made it out here early today. She said for you to bring you're most..." She paused and he heard her yell something behind her. Katara's muffled reply helped him to perk himself up a little bit. "You're "gothiest" outfit. Apparently we're going to an underground club tonight and Katara wants us all to look the part. Something about catering to the people." She paused again as Katara's voice became louder. "Yeah he's up!" She yelled in response then to Zuko said, "Look just get down here. Katara is on the warpath and she needs some loving." There was a loud thump, like flesh meeting flesh and Zuko heard lots of scraping sounds on the other side of the phone, and a few muffled curses. He assumed they were wrestling over the phone now. He was proven right when Katara's sultry voice came across the line a moment later.

"Morning sunshine." She said sweetly and he smiled somewhat, but his voice was snippy, but yet playfully so.

"What is it with you guys and all the nicknames?" He asked as he started to push himself into a sitting position. Maybe he was getting sick and that's why he was sleeping so late? _Maybe I just have too much crap on my mind right now and don't sleep when I should._ He thought sourly and stretched his body upwards, hearing his spine pop as he did so.

"Because it's cute." Katara was saying as he did so. He relaxed and let his arms fall as his breath came out in a whoosh of air.

"Cute. Right. Shall I head over straight away my lady?" He asked sweetly, and she could practically feel the sarcasm in his voice.

"You had better if you know what's good for you." She snipped in reply and Zuko chuckled quietly. On the other end of the phone, where Zuko couldn't see, Katara frowned. She had to find some way to get him to smile and laugh more. He had such a nice laugh.

"I'll be there in a minute." Zuko said, drawing her from her thoughts and she grinned.

"See you soon Sparky." She said, and when he went to retort she hung up on him, snickering to herself until she felt a finger poke her side, making her squirm out of the way. She looked down at Toph who was folding her arms over her chest and giving, what Katara assumed, was a stern glare from her blind eyes.

"You like him." She said plainly, once again startling Katara with her inability to be anything but blunt in any given situation, as well as incredibly astute. Katara blanched as she sputtered around trying to find the words to convey her disagreement with Toph's statement, for which she had none because, as usual, Toph was exactly right.

"I, um, well, you see-" But Toph raised her hand and cut her ramblings off. She sighed softly and turned her face more towards Katara's.

"It's ok, Zuko is a great guy. He's not going to leave us like all the others did, but," And with this she prodded Katara's side again, making the older woman flinch away from her tiny friend. "He's been through a lot. I met him years ago, years before I even met you guys when he and his uncle took me in when I had no other place to go." Katara watched her silently as Toph told her things she was sure the earth-bender hadn't told anyone in years. "I love that boy like my brother, and if you mess up with him - and I'm not saying the others are your fault - but if you mess up with Zuko, not only will you lose him, but you'll lose me and possibly Aang as well." Katara felt tears well up in her eyes, but she blinked rapidly and shook her head, as if to shake them away.

"I won't. I don't..." She paused and sighed. "I don't think anything could happen between he and I. We're just...we're so different Toph." Katara said sadly as she slumped back against the wall and let her head fall forward so her chin was almost resting on her chest. She gazed, absently, at the ground. She felt Toph's calloused hand on her arm and her head snapped up. Toph was actually _comforting_ her. Well, that was new.

"All I know, is that his heart goes nuts when you're around, and only when you're around. I've never felt reactions like that from him. He just doesn't care about things normally. But he does feel something for you, and whatever it is, it's powerful stuff." She punched Katara gently and made the water-bender smile softly. "And besides, didn't you know that opposites attract?" And with that she moved off, away from Katara to sit by Aang who turned and smiled at her and threw his arm over her shoulder. Katara stared at them for a long minute before she shook her head and grinned to herself. Earth and Wind. Fire and Water. Was that really possible? It seemed so if she could go by what she saw with Toph and Aang.

"What's on your mind, baby?" Zuko's deep voice rumbled behind her and she could almost feel the vibrations in his chest when he spoke. She allowed herself a brief moment to smile at the endearment he had used for her, and, for once, let that warm feeling fill her up. When she turned to face him, however, her smile was teasing, playful, and she saw Zuko's eyes flash immediately to her lips.

"What did you call me?" She taunted him and watched as his face fell somewhat. His eyes were locked on her now, as if he were trying to read her mind and see what he had done wrong. He paled a little more, if such a thing were possible, and Katara grinned at him.

"Um, I'm sorry?" He asked, and awkward smile creeping its way onto his face as he reached up to run his fingers through his hair. Katara grinned wider at him and tugged on his arm to give him a friendly hug in welcome.

"Don't be." She said as she pulled away to give him a good once over before he could recover from his bout of awkwardness. He was once again dressed in black and red, apparently, once Fire Nation, always Fire Nation. The same could be said for each of them really, so his habits didn't bother her. His shirt was a simple t-shirt that clung to his body and shifted when he did and she could easily see his abs roll under his shirt when he moved his torso just the slightest bit. She had never wanted to bite someone so bad in her life! She just wanted to see what it would feel like to have all those muscles bunching and rolling beneath her fingers as she tried to elicit every response from his body she could. She did notice, despite her lust-filled haze and since his sleeves were well above his elbows, a strange marking on his left forearm. She reached out and took his wrist in her hands before turning his arm this way and that for her inspection.

There was a tribal flame that danced up his arm from his wrist almost to the bend of his elbow. She traced each tiny little detail and marveled in how they were so well done, and so intricately laced it actually looked like black fire was climbing up his arm. She smiled slightly to herself as her fingers slid and dipped between the creases in his muscles. This man really was nothing but corded muscles and hard strength.

"When did you get this?" Katara asked, looking away from his tattoo long enough to glance at his eyes, which were far away in a memory, fond or not she didn't know.

"I got it years ago, when I first left home. It was to mark my freedom, like a flame that burns without control, I was in charge of my own destiny, my own actions, my own thoughts. It was liberating." He explained as he lifted his other hand to cover hers gently as she went to trace the design once more. She stopped and looked into his face once more and was taken aback by the amount of emotion in his eyes. Usually he was so reserved and controlled, she never got to see what was deep inside this man. She was instantly hooked. "I keep it covered because it's usually not a good idea to announce that you're from the Fire Nation." He said as he lifted her hand from his arm to kiss her palm sweetly before letting her go and moving away slightly. He glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled softly, a secret smile she felt was just for her, that no one had ever seen before, and no one besides her would ever see again. Her heart fluttered dangerously in her chest and she growled at herself and her foolish thoughts. It wasn't that she didn't trust Toph and her scarily accurate judgment of people; in fact few were more accurate than Toph, she just didn't trust her own heart to make proper judgements. Whenever there was a bad choice to be made in men her heart would be the first to jump straight to that decision, bypassing all of the good choices in favor of pain and sorrow.

She shook her head and steeled her heart against such silly thoughts. She didn't have time for that right now. Right now she had to get everyone on the same page that she was on, and actually get them to focus, collectively, on something for more than five seconds at a time.

"Okay guys!" She called, clapping her hands together to get everyone's attention but felt like a grade-school teacher when she did so and immediately stopped, embarrassed. Fortunately no one caught it. She watched as Sokka laughed when Toph punched Zuko in the arm, probably a little harder than necessary, and then as Zuko spun and put her in a head lock, rubbing her hair this way and that, mussing up her perfect style. Toph let out a very girly squeal before she stomped her foot on the ground and sent Zuko crashing to the earth with a loud 'thump'! Katara hid her smile behind her hand as she walked over to where everyone was gathered and Zuko was gingerly pulling himself off the ground from his prone position. He grumbled and cursed and rubbed his hand through Toph's hair again with a wicked laugh that had her shouting at him. Katara smiled to herself as she watched him interact with her group. He fit in perfectly, meshing seamlessly with all these people from all around the world that really had nothing more in common than a love for music. Sokka threw his arm around Zuko's broad shoulders and Katara watched as her brother took to another man who was, by far, more manly than he himself was currently. That just didn't happen. It was as if Zuko had been with them from the start.

"Hey!" Katara said again, laughing at the antics of her little ragtag family. "Ok, look you bunch of punks! We have to get our shit straight for tonight ok? We haven't played at a venue like this in a long time and I need you guys looking your best." She said when everyone started to glance in her general direction and give her some of their attention. That was about as much as she could hope for from these guys so she accepted it with stoic diligence.

"Everyone have their clothes ready? I hate to say it, but tonight we _have_ to look the part, none of the half-assed crap we usually do for a gig, ok?" Toph huffed and folded her arms over her chest.

"I don't see why. People like us as punks just fine. Why do we have to change?" She asked, a distinct pout on her gravelly voice that had Katara grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Because it's our job as entertainers to look the part that we're given. I don't like it any more than you guys do, but well all knew we'd have to do this when we started this band. And come on, we've done this before, it's a little outside our genre but it isn't so bad, a few more buckles and a little more make-up and we're set, right?" She asked, trying to perk up her band. They had worked hard for the image that had finally obtained, and none of them were pleased with having to change that, even in the slightest. They were a punk-rock band, not a gothic band; and yes, they would say, there is a huge difference between the two. Toph was the first to grumble, loudly, and stomp off to the changing room. This was the hardest on her as she actually had to look like a girl while playing gigs like this, and she just hated that with a passion.

Sokka glanced at Katara and whimpered slightly. "Do I have to wear more make-up?" He whined as Suki patted his side gently, sympathetically. Katara smiled indulgently at her brother.

"No Sokka. But in place of that you'll have twice as many buckles and straps. Good luck trying to pee with all those clothes on." Katara said sweetly and Sokka looked at Suki.

"Help me put eyeliner on?" He asked pleadingly and she laughed and acquiesced. They moved off to the back room so she could darken his eyes and help him into the minimum amount of buckles he had.

Katara approached Zuko shyly as he stood there rummaging around in a duffel bag waiting for Sokka and Suki to finish doing their thing so he could change clothes. She sidled up to his side and gazed up at him innocently. He glanced at her from the corner of his good eye and raised his eyebrow.

"Yes Katara?" He asked and she smiled as her name rolled off his lips, making her toes curl in her boots and making her glad she wore said boots. She smiled brighter at him and his eyebrow inched higher.

"Want to help me with something?" She asked sweetly, her hands now clasped in front of her in a pleading gesture. Zuko blinked slightly before he nodded slowly, as if unsure his decision was the right one.

"Yeah. Sure." He said before she beamed, grabbed his hand and started dragging him towards the second room in the front of the warehouse, the room he hadn't been into yet. She threw open the door and Zuko stopped dead in his tracks. It was a bedroom, or as much of a bedroom as you can make in a rundown warehouse.

"Do...do you live here?" Zuko asked, feeling awkward for having to ask such a question. He didn't know if she would be ashamed if she did, or proud because her work was so important to her. Katara laughed, and it was a musical sound, like the clinking of wind chimes. She smiled at him over her shoulder.

"Looks that way huh? No, I just keep most of the costumes and wardrobe here. I have my own apartment, but I'll admit that I'm rarely ever there since I'm usually here fighting with one agent or another trying to get us the best shows." She walked over to a huge rack of clothing and Zuko followed absently letting his fingers trail over the different fabrics. He had never seen so many clothes in his life.

"Did you buy all of these?" He asked as he fingered a heavy jacket that, by his guess, would have fallen to Katara's ankles if she were to put it on. Oh how he wanted to see that sight more than anything else in the world at that moment. He loved a long coat on a woman, and he had a feeling a long coat on Katara would be his most favorite thing ever.

"Some of them yeah. A lot of them are custom. A friend of mine sews and she makes things for me. I get a lot of her first try designs and then I modify them myself so that it's exactly what I want." She explained as she bent over and rummaged around in a drawer. Zuko glanced over at her from the coat and nearly died right there, his heart refusing to beat as he saw her bent over in such a way that made many horrible, horrible thoughts crawl through his mind and he nearly drowned in them. He felt his blood heat as his face started to turn about as red as the shirt he was wearing as he realized he was staring shamelessly at her ass, but doing nothing to stop himself from such lecherous acts. He found his body being drawn towards her as if he had no control over his own actions anymore. She was some great magnet and he had no choice but to obey her call.

His hand found her hip and he groaned quietly at how soft and pliant her skin was beneath his fingers. "Katara," He practically moaned her name as she stilled under his fingers, he knew he shouldn't do this, knew it wasn't professional, but professional had kind of flown out the window the first time she had crawled up his hips like he was a tree. He heard her breath hiss through her lips like a soft gust of wind and he took that as a sign for him to continue. His hand smoothed up her spine and she arched into him like a cat would, bracing her hands on the armoire in front of her and he could practically hear her purring for more. He slowly leaned over her then to trail kissed down her back and then up again across her shoulders. She pressed back against him and he growled when she pressed against his crotch. His hand found her hair and he tangled his fingers in the wild mass of mahogany silk he found there. He laid kiss after burning kiss across the backs of her shoulders and let his teeth scrape across the back of her neck in a very possessive maneuver neither one of them seemed to recognize at the moment.

She sighed and writhed against him and sent his blood surging through his veins and pounding in his ears, so loud he almost couldn't hear anything else. But he heard her, every little sound she made, every whimper, every sigh and he drank them in, reveling in the responses he could coax and tease from her throat and her delicious little mouth. Suddenly craving a taste he wrapped his hands tightly around her waist and spun her around in his grasp, stopping her when her chest was pressed against his as he pushed her back further so her ass was resting against the armoire now. His lips touched her throat, his teeth finding her pulse and biting gently as her own hands started to explore his body now that she wasn't concerned with holding herself up anymore.

She slid her fingers under his shirt and her mind shouted a silent victory as she felt his muscles bunch and flex under her hands as she had wanted to so badly earlier that day. She tugged on his shirt, sliding and lifting it until he broke away from her chest and neck to rip his own shirt off before he descended on her again. He grabbed her legs behind her knees and wrapped them around his waist, pressing his still clothed cock to her center, making her gasp at the contact. Her arms closed around his body and her nails found his back as he ground himself against her, his lips working their way up her neck towards her mouth this time. He went to skim along her jaw but he tangled her hands in his hair and forced his mouth to meet hers, devouring his kisses and silently begging him for more. He obliged happily as his tongue swept across her lips and she immediately granted him access to her mouth. He ravaged her mouth, pillaging it for all the sweet tastes any man could ever hope for, and then returning for more. She felt as though he were stealing the very breath from her body, as if he couldn't get enough of her.

She hooked her ankles behind his back and pressed herself against him in abandon while pulling his body tighter against her with her legs. He moaned softly and obliged her, grinding himself hard against her core, his fingers digging into her hips almost painfully but just making her writhe harder against him, nearly setting him on fire with her soft moans. He leaned down and took a piece of her flesh into his mouth to worry gently with his teeth and was rewarded with her soft cry of pleasure he was sure was going to send him over the edge right then and there. He was so hard he wasn't sure how he wasn't feeling more pain from the tight confines of pants than he was. But then again, with Katara writhing against him in such a way he wasn't too sure of much at that moment, other than the fact that _he_ was the one causing her to act in such a wanton way. He growled softly and nipped at her neck again, scraping his teeth down to her shoulder were he bit down again, making her cry out loudly and claw at his back, which, in turn, made him thrust himself against her again.

A loud knock sounded on her door and they stilled themselves with great difficulty. Zuko stared into her eyes and she smiled lazily at him, grinning like everything was right with the world at that moment. He returned her smile with one of his own and bent to kiss her again.

The knock sounded once more, interrupting their moment and causing Zuko to lean his head against her chest and growl with annoyance.

"Katara? Are you ok sis?" Sokka's voice carried into the room and Katara stiffened somewhat against Zuko. Sweet spirits she had forgotten about her band. She had never forgotten about her band or a gig or anything before. What in the hell was this man in front of her, and how was he capable of such things. She tried to answer when she felt Zuko's lips on her chest again, and nearly fainted when she felt those same lips curl into a smile against her skin. She drew a deep breath and called out.

"Yeah I'm fine Sokka." She said, her voice still breathless and then something happened. She felt hot, moist heat close over the top of her breast and her world nearly shattered into a million tiny, fiery pieces. She stared at the top of Zuko's head as he laved part of her breast with his lips and tongue, still grinning like he had just won the prize of the millennium.

"Ok, I'm just checking because, well, you were making odd noises and stuff." He said awkwardly and Katara huffed slightly, but when she tried to answer she felt Zuko's hand close over her other breast and she gasped loudly when his fingers found her nipple and tweaked it gently and she nearly died. "Kinda like that." Sokka said and Katara knew how bad it must sound...and how bad it actually was.

"Corset trouble!" She called even as her head lolled back and Zuko pulled the fabric of her clothes away from her chest to get better access to the tender flesh beneath. He pulled her bra down and his tongue found her other nipple, making her heart slam into her ribcage painfully before stopping completely and then doing this funny little staccato thing it had never done before. Zuko smirked and slipped the pert little bud between his teeth and her world went dark, her head fell back completely and rested heavily on her wardrobe. Her fingers were so tight in his hair she wasn't sure how she hadn't pulled it out yet, or why he hadn't asked her to stop. She wondered muzzily if he were not, in fact, some sort of sadomasochist. He released her nipple and blew a hot breath across her skin, making her back arch into him, nearly thrusting her breast back into his mouth. He chuckled softly and looked up at her without lifting his head.

His gaze was predatory, feral and fierce and in some, distant corner of Katara's mind she recognized that Zuko was a very dangerous man. Not only sexually to her, but physically to anyone else. His voice, when he spoke was deep, ringing from somewhere in the bottom of his chest and making her body vibrate with the sound of it.

"Was this the help you had in mind?" He teased as he trailed the tips of his fingers across her chest, making her whimper slightly, and almost cry when he started tugging her clothes back into their proper places. Her hair was an absolute mess, strewn across her head and pushed halfheartedly away from her face. Her lips were swollen from his kisses and he silently ticked off a mark on their mental scoreboard for himself. He didn't think she knew her own name at that moment, much less anything of relevance. She blinked slowly and shook her head, as if trying to raise herself from her passion induced quagmire. When her eyes finally focused on Zuko's arrogantly smug face it snapped her, partially, back to reality. She glared at him and punched him in the chest, which just made him chuckle at her and place tender kisses across her face and brow. She tried to maintain her glare, but soon her face crumbled into another smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss his lips again.

"No, not quite." She managed to get out despite her giggles. Her heart felt so light at that moment she wasn't so sure she wasn't an air-bender instead of a water-bender. She felt like if she hadn't been holding on to Zuko she would have floated away up into space and been perfectly happy with the outcome. "Want to lace me into a corset?" She asked and he groaned softly, letting his forehead drop to her shoulder and letting it rest there for a long moment.

"You are going to be the death of me water-bender." He growled, pulling her hips into his once more and sighing softly. She scoffed and slapped at his shoulder gently, making him chuckle at her. She laughed and started to pull away from him. He dipped his head and laid one gentle, burning kiss against her lips before stepping back and letting her right herself. Katara staggered to her feet and held a hand out, which Zuko quickly took and helped her steady herself. The last thing he wanted right now was to stop touching her, but he knew if he didn't they would miss their gig and he didn't want to fuck everyone else. His lips twisted into a wicked smile as he thought about that and he chuckled darkly. Katara glanced at him as she finally pulled away and dove back into the wardrobe, Zuko averted his eyes this time, just in case. She popped back up a second later, still slightly unsteady on her feet (to which Zuko felt supreme satisfaction he could cause such reactions in this spit-fire woman), and staggered behind a screen. She reappeared a moment later with a dark blue and black lace corset hanging loosely around her chest as she stepped over to Zuko, presenting him with her back and lifting her hair out of the way.

"Would you lace me up?" She asked, her voice husky and so sexy right then she could have asked for the world and he would have done everything in his power to give it to her. His hands trailed along the caramel colored skin as he deftly threaded the laces and tugged them tight.

"Good enough?" He asked when there were still several inches between the sides. Katara shook her head and Zuko blinked at her when she smiled at him over her shoulder.

"Tighter." She whispered and his knees nearly gave out from under him. He sucked in a breath as he tugged her tighter and tighter, asking if he should stop and only continuing when she asked him to. The back sides were now less than an inch apart and Katara smiled, telling him he could stop. He gave it one last tug before tying her off and taking a step back to appreciate his hard work. She stood before him and he had to wrestle with his inner thoughts to keep himself from molesting her all over again. She had curves on her own, but her body in that corset was a killer. Her breasts looked even larger than before and her waist was so tightly tucked in her wanted to see if his hands could wrap all the way around her, she was so tiny as it was he was sure it would be close. She placed her hand on his chest and tugged him down so she could place a kiss on his cheek before drawing away.

"Thank you Zuko." She whispered, letting his name tumble from her lips in the most sensual way she could muster, which, judging from his soft groan, was a decent amount. "I can handle the rest from here." She said as she pulled away and watched as his head followed her for a moment before he cleared his throat and nodded slightly.

"I'm, uh, glad I could help." He said, clearing his throat once more before shaking his head and turning away, her chiming laugh following behind him. He bent down to pick up his shirt and risked a glance over his shoulder and nearly died when he saw her shimmy her pants down her long supple legs to bunch around her ankles. He felt a stab of pleasure then forcefully jerked himself around and walked out the door into the main section of the warehouse. Everyone glanced up from what they were doing and Zuko grumbled something about corset trouble, avoiding Sokka's glare, and Toph's knowing smirk before he ducked into the back room and pulled his black European opera suit out of the bag. IT was really the only 'gothic' thing he had so he felt as if it would do. The pants were wide around his legs, giving him plenty of room to twist and move, and the shirt was made of a fine white silk, which was covered partially by a black silk and cotton vest. A long suit jacket that brushed the backs of his calves completed the look and he took time to brush his hair back off of his face and secure it in a small ponytail at the back of his head. A few rogue strands of hair still fell in his eyes, but he dubbed himself well enough off that a little bit of kohl around his eyes and he was done. He stepped back out of the back room and looked around at his friends.

Toph was wearing a long skirt that looked black, but shimmered a beautiful emerald green in the light or whenever she moved her legs. Her top was not quite a corset, but Zuko had no other words for what it may have been. It was black as well and laced up both sides, but did not look like it had the boning in it that Katara's had. Black lace ruffled sleeves fell over her shoulders and brushed gently against her arms. Her hair was pulled up into a bun atop her head and she allowed a few wisps to playfully sway in her face. Zuko had never seen her look so feminine in the years he had known her and, basically, it floored him.

"Toph!" He said, walking over to her and grinning in that proud brother sort of way. "You look like a girl!" He said happily, though somewhat stupidly, and was rewarded with a punch in the stomach as she growled at him.

"I am a girl jerk-bender. I just don't need some silly, frilly outfit to prove it!" She snapped and started to sulk as Zuko chuckled softly at her. Aang walked over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder and Zuko watched as she relaxed minutely. Aang was dressed similarly to Zuko but his clothes were a little worse for wear, but artfully so. He had rips in the elbows of his suit jacket and chains hanging from the belt loops and pockets. His pants were a little tighter and were tucked into a pair of combat boots Zuko was certain he had seen Toph wearing earlier. The little air-bender had a fedora on his head that was pulled low over his eyes, but his ever present grin gave him away for being the carefree guy he was.

Sokka was the only one really dressed differently. His pants were tattered and torn with more chains and straps on them than Zuko had ever seen on pants before. He had buckles around his thighs and waist, and several belts were layered around his waist as well. His shirt was tight and black and covered with a nice vest like the rest of them. He had cuffs wrapped around his wrists and his eyes were heavily lined, and as he looked between Zuko and Aang an expression of indignation crossed his features.

"Wait a second! Why do you guys get to wear suits and Katara makes me wear this crap?" He stormed and before either of the other men could answer Katara stepped out of the back room and began to walk towards them while answering his question.

"Because Sokka, we're siblings, and I am sure as hell not going to be the only one dolled up like this on that stage." She explained as she wrapped what looked like another little belt around her wrist. Her hair was done up in a high bun, but most of it fell down her back in long ringlets that swayed around her waist. She had paired her corset with a long black skirt that flared out around her feet and seemed to be missing two large sections of cloth that showed off her full hips and smooth thighs. Zuko's mouth went dry and his throat constricted somewhat before he averted his gaze and stared at a particularly interesting spot on the ceiling.

"Are we ready?" Katara asked as she tugged on her clothing a little more, and when she got the affirmative led the way, in surprisingly long strides, to the Durango which everyone piled in again. Zuko was started to feel like he was going to spend the majority of his life in the damn car now. He was surprised from his thoughts when he felt Katara's hand on his as he sat beside her in the passenger's seat. He smiled stupidly and ran his thumb over her wrist in a gentle caress when he felt them suddenly pried apart by Sokka practically diving into the front seat to mess with the radio.

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A young woman stood on the balcony over-looking the dance floor of The Spider House as bodies pressed together, bumping and grinding in such a way it almost made her sick to watch. Lower class society was really quite filthy. She smoothed nonexistent wrinkles out of her high fashion, expensive red dress that hugged all the right curves and showed off her long legs, which were only emphasized more by the tall black stiletto pumps she wore as well. Her hair was perfectly arranged atop her head while two strands of dark, silky hair fell free and caressed the sides of her porcelain face. Her amber eyes traveled over the writhing mass once more before she turned away from the balcony and went in search of the bar and her companions.

She stepped up beside a girl dressed all in black, from her long sleeve black-lace shirt to her long black layered skirts, to her very hair that was black as pitch. Her skin was, however, a deathly pale and her eyes were two little yellow points nearly hidden by black make-up that sat thick and heavy on a very bored face. In contrast to the drab woman in black sat a girl dressed in varying shades of pink and mauve with a radiant smile painted on her heart-shaped face, as her brown eyes danced with glee, and at even the slightest little thing she would set off giggling and smiling broadly.

"Hi Azula!" The girl in pink giggled as the woman in red walked over and situated herself between the two contrasting women. "This is such fun, thank you for inviting us out!" She bubbled as she sipped on some fruity looking drink with an umbrella sticking out of it. Azula indulged her with a wan smile and tucked her hair behind her ear with such practiced ease it seemed sexy, almost.

"You're welcome Ty Lee." Azula said easily and Ty Lee graced her with an even bigger smile than before. Azula turned to the bar tender and snapped her fingers to garner his attention. He whipped his head in her direction to glare at the disturbance before she flashed him a sultry smile and his glare melted away as he sauntered over.

"What can I get ya babe?" He asked, taking an appreciative glance up and down her body. Azula merely turned slightly to the side and leaned forward a bit locking her eyes with his. Her smile was twisted and seemed to only mar the natural beauty of her face.

"Respect." She said simply before tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I'll have a double martini, neat, no olives." She said, before turning her back on the man in a clear dismissal of his person. He scowled at her back but turned to make her drink as quickly as he could before setting it in front of her and walking off.

"I personally think this couldn't be any more boring." The girl in black droned, her voice lacking any discernible emotion. Azula glanced over at her but didn't spare her much thought. Ty Lee however, giggled again and waved her hand flippantly.

"Oh Mai, you think everything is boring, you poor thing." She laughed and Mai cut her eyes at her friend, a slight scowl wrinkling a small crease between her brows. She was contemplating making a retort when a voice rose over the din of the crowd, announcing the performance of Elemental and their new lead guitarist.

"Oh, new?" Azula asked no one in particular as she swirled her drink around in her glass, not really paying it much mind. She glanced at her companions and smirked at them. "Shall we go see who it is? I wouldn't have expected them to be so quick to get rid of that Earth Kingdom boy they had for so long. He played rather well for a common man." She said but didn't wait for a response as she stood from her seat and strode back over to the balcony, her steps sure, her head held high as if she owned the bar, which, considering her father, she practically did. What she saw on the stage below her made her rage surge to the surface of her mind and she gripped the banister with white knuckles, her fingers crooking into claws as her nails bit into the wood beneath her hands. Down below her, associating with riffraff in a thousand dollar suit, was her brother, playing little games when he should have been home helping their father run his business. Azula hated her brother for leaving, hated him for abandoning the empire their father was trying to create for the betterment of his people, and forcing her to take more responsibility than she wanted. She glared down at him, contemplating the best course of action when Ty Lee bounced up beside her and gasped loudly, her hands fluttering over her mouth nervously.

"Azula, isn't that your brother? Mai, isn't he your ex-boyfriend?" She asked, not meaning to be insensitive, but also being woefully naive in the ways of the world as well. Azula glanced out of the corner of her eye at Mai and a wicked thought seeped into her mind. Mai still wanted Zuko, so much so that she pined for him when she thought no one was looking. But Azula saw such things, Azula saw and categorized everything, and she knew, in that moment, that Mai would do anything she asked if she thought Zuko would come back to her. She needed time to plan.

"I have to tell my father that I've found my wayward brother. He will be most pleased by this news." She turned to Mai and stared the other woman down until Mai cast her eyes to the ground. Azula smirked slightly at her small victory. "Mai, I need you to watch Zuko and see if you can find out anything about him. He's probably staying with my fuddy-duddy uncle, but that man is so hard to keep track of when he wants to be. I suppose that comes from a lifetime of running away from duties." She cursed silently and glanced back down at her brother, glaring at the smile that quirked the corners of his lips upwards ever so slightly, but more than she had ever seen when he was still with them. Mai was watching him as well, and when the lead singer sauntered over to him and threw her arm around his waist at the end of their song so they could bow together, Mai's world was colored red as a burning hatred for this unknown woman bloomed dark and ugly in her chest. Azula knew Mai was hooked in that moment and as she lifted her chin she knew her plans would work out in her favor. Her brother would come back, go back to being their father's enforcer, and she would go back to plotting the demise of their sire and taking over his company for herself. She left her companions there and then; her desire to tell her father of her find over-riding her anger at her brother for the moment as thoughts of her future danced through her head, accompanied by the torment she knew her brother would feel at being found again. Oh yes, this was possibly the best night she had had in a long while.

Mai was left staring a hole through her ex-boyfriend as he practically fucked another girl on stage. Jealousy ate at her but her face remained as impassive as ever, save for the slight twitch of her left eyebrow. Ty Lee watched her with worry scrawled plainly across her little face, her eyes wide with fear for her friend and the corners of her little mouth drawn down in a frown.

"Mai?" She asked, but the other woman did not answer, merely continued to stare at Zuko down below them. "Mai, are you going to be ok?" She asked, her voice small, fragile almost as she looked at her best friend. Mai finally shook her head so little it almost looked as though she hadn't moved at all.

"No, I don't think so." She said before she turned away and stalked off away from the balcony to order herself another drink and try to forget what she had just seen. She hated that woman, she hated her so much for stealing her man away. And having had a lot of experience with hate, Mai was certain she had never hated anything more.

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Zuko bowed with Katara at the end of their performance and snaked his arm across her shoulders as the rest of the band joined them and they all bowed once more to the roaring crowd. Secretly, silently, he was soaking in the atmosphere of the club, reveling in the way the fans were screaming for them to keep playing, to not stop. He felt his lips move as an actual smile stretched his features and made his scar crinkle a little along his cheek. Katara reached up and brushed a friendly kiss along his jaw before she turned and did the same to her brother and Aang. They bowed once more before dismantling their stuff and exiting the stage to pack up and go home for the night.

After they had everything packed back into their truck Katara squealed slightly and slapped her brothers hand in a high-five. Toph laughed as Aang hugged her to his side and blushed when he kissed her temple. They were all riding the high that came from a great performance, and they were all relieved things had worked out for the best with Zuko's arrival into their close group.

"That was awesome you guys!" Katara crowed, giggling loudly, her face flushed, her voice breathless as the excitement from the night coursed through her veins, the money they received hadn't hurt much either now that they were looking at very full wallets.

Sokka laughed loudly as they all piled into the truck and he tucked Suki into his side, under his arm. "We haven't played that well in a long time! I don't know why, but everything seems more fun now, almost like when we first started out!" He mused, a tint of awe creeping into his voice and making Suki smile at him

"That's because you have someone new." She said softly, her quiet nature belying the astute and intelligent young woman she was. Aang laughed then and nodded.

"Cheers to Zuko!" He said loudly, despite not having a drink with which to toast, or anything of the like. A chorus of "To Zuko!" rose from the car and Zuko felt his cheeks burn from embarrassment at their sentiments. He ducked his head and looked out the window, smiling to himself.

"To Zuko." A quiet voice to his side said and he turned to look at Katara, who seemed to be smiling to herself, as if she were unaware she had said anything at all. An odd feeling struck him then, something akin to his heart giving a funny little beat inside his chest and his stomach rolling over itself in a way that was not entirely unpleasant. He shook his head slightly and went back to staring out the window as the world passed by them in flashes of light and color.

Katara screamed loudly, shattering the excited atmosphere as she slammed on the brakes and jerked the car to the right, driving the truck into a ditch and rattling her passengers mightily. Zuko's seat belt caught and slammed into his chest and shoulder hard enough he was sure he'd have a bruise in a little while. Katara sat in the driver's seat panting, her fingers gripping the wheel until her hands were white. Her eyes were rolling in fear and Zuko immediately jerked himself free of his seat belt before crawling over to her side to gently pry her hands away from the steering wheel, and wrapping his arms around her shoulders as she shook.

Aang pushed himself up from the floor board and shook his head, reaching for Toph even as she was groping around for him berating him for not wearing his seat belt and scaring her like he had. Sokka was running his hands over Suki's face and brushing her hair from her eyes as he looked her over for any hurts she might have. Zuko saw where his head had slammed into the window and he would have a lovely bruise there as well, but for the most part everyone looked relatively unharmed.

"Is everyone ok?" He asked as Katara finally turned and clung to the front of his shirt, her silent tears drenching his shirt.

"Yeah, yeah we're ok." Toph said, clinging to Aang's hand like a life line. Sokka only nodded briefly in his direction before pulling Suki close once more and rubbing her hair gently. Zuko looked back down at Katara who was a few shades paler than she should have been.

"Baby," He started and when she didn't look at him he lifted her chin so their eyes met. "Honey, what happened?" He asked, smoothing her hair back from her face, concerned for her well being before he'd start to worry about the car or the gear.

"There was a person! There was a fucking person in the road!" She cried even as her eyes flew wide and she jerked away from Zuko to kick open her door and stagger outside. She spun and looked at the car briefly as Zuko shouted after her and struggled to get himself outside as well. She turned again to search for the person she had almost run over, only to see someone slowly making their way out of the middle of the road and walking towards her. Katara trembled harder, but not from fear, as the features of the person became clear to her searching eyes.

"Jet?" She asked softly when she saw the cigarette rolling between his lips as he smirked at her. "Jet?" She screamed when he just nodded his head slightly. "You mother fucker! You god damned mother fucker! You could have killed us all, twice now!" She raged as she started towards him, she distantly heard Zuko call her name before there was a loud crunch and she spun around. There were several people surrounding the car, each one of them in an earth-bender's stance, they had several large boulders positioned around the car, trapping everyone inside. Panic seized her heart and she nearly screamed with frustration and anger, when suddenly Jet spoke, calling her attention back to him.

"You know, Katara," He started slowly, mocking her with his words and his grin. "I really thought we had something great going. A sexy as hell woman who is a master water-bender and who could get men to bow to her will and an ambitious guy who had dreams of over throwing the Fire Nation regime. We were one hell of a team, with you by my side I would have had no issues taking down those damned fire-benders and their self-righteousness. We could have freed the people from their oppression, from their reign of terror in our streets!" He stopped when he was merely a foot away from her and his smile turned into a sneer and his eyes hardened as he growled. "But no. You threw your lot in with them. You're no better than a fire-bender. And do you know what's worse?" He asked and Katara narrowed her eyes at him, her fingers twitching at her side as she waited for the perfect moment to strike. "He's the son of the enemy." Jet hissed pointing his finger over her shoulder towards the car, causing her to jerk around and stare straight at Zuko who was yelling something at someone but his voice was muffled by the rock and the metal she couldn't make out his words.

He didn't look like the enemy, he had never looked like the enemy, even when she had found out he was a fire-bender. But the deeper she delved into her mind, the more sickened she became. _Zuko._ His very name had been whispered like some sort of bad omen on the streets for years. He had been the ill wind that had swept across the city, destroying all those that opposed Ozai Enterprises, silencing those that protested with incredible accuracy and efficiency, never leaving witnesses. And then one day, he had just disappeared, leaving behind the streets he, himself, had terrorized for so long, without so much as a trace left of the man he used to be. _And then he appeared on my doorstep._ Katara thought sadly with a shake of her head. She couldn't believe that he was the same Zuko, but then again, how common was that name? How many Zukos were there with such a reputation for evil, and such distinguishing markings. Why hadn't she noticed it before? _I didn't want to._ She answered her own question again as she felt tears gather in her eyes.

"He's changed." She whispered softly, though if it was for her ears or Jet's she didn't know, nor really cared to think about for too long. Zuko was Zuko, they all had a past, so what if his was darker? He just had farther to crawl back up into the light, and into the light he had made it. Katara squared her shoulders and turned to face Jet once more, locking her eyes onto his, as he had been watching her, waiting for her inevitable reaction of scorn towards her newest family member.

"He's changed." She said louder, this time for Jet's ears as she took a step into his space, causing him to flinch back slightly. "He isn't that man anymore. He's redeemed himself, he's redeemed himself a hundred times over. He wouldn't hurt anyone anymore, unlike some people I could name." She said as she jabbed her finger into his chest, growling softly at him. Jet squared up against her and grabbed her shoulders roughly in his hands, squeezing with more force than necessary. Katara slapped him as hard as she could, sending him staggering to the side before he could even react. She stepped away from him, bringing her hands in front of her as he called water from all around her. Trees splintered and cracked, drained of their fluids, grass wilted and died beneath her feet, even the very air around them grew dry, almost too dry to breath.

For a long moment Jet stared at the blood that dripped from his lips and onto his shaking hand. She had never hit him before, he had never seen her hit anyone before. He turned slowly to look at her before twin hook swords flashed out of sheaths on his back and sliced towards her. She blocked with a wall of ice and sent a tendril of water surging towards him, snapping against his stomach and sending him staggering back a few paces. Katara stood there, water dancing and twisting about her body like a second skin as she stared down Jet.

"Come get me." She hissed and crooked her fingers, making long tongues of water snap out and lash into Jet's sides, sending him scrambling to get out of the way. Wave after wave snapped at his heels, causing him to jump and dodge to keep from getting struck, and successfully keeping him off balance and always on the move, taking away his ability to fight back. Jet leapt over one of her water whips and landed close enough to her to swipe at her stomach with his sword, making her skitter backwards away from him. Her clothes weren't really conducive to fighting so when he got her off balance he pressed his advantage and attacked her hard, making her use nearly all of her water in ice shields which he shattered and sent her stumbling back over and over. Katara was getting tired, and there was so little water around her she was running out of things to bend. She staggered to the side and fell just as Jet was descending on her again, when, suddenly, there was a loud screeching sound, like metal scraping against itself and a blast of fire so big it nearly engulfed the entire are in front of Katara.

Zuko appeared beside her a second later and hauled her to her feet, his arm wrapped protectively around her waist as he stared down Jet on the other side of a wall of fire. Jet smirked slightly before taking a few steps back and charging forward, leaping over the flames to land in front of Zuko and Katara. Zuko growled and pushed Katara behind him gently, she made a sound of protest and Zuko silenced her with a look. She had never seen his eyes so hard and merciless, and she wondered if her defense of him had been a lie. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Toph encasing the other earth benders in the metal she had obviously ripped from the truck, making Katara wince slightly, that was a good chunk of money she was going to have to fork over for a new car.

"Greetings Son of Ozai." Jet said with a mocking bow which caused Zuko to flinch as if someone had physically struck him. His eyes narrowed and Katara saw the fire reflected in their golden depths, it somehow seemed cold and heartless as it burned in his gaze.

"I know all about you now Jet. About your little 'Freedom Fighters' and your goals." Zuko said as flames engulfed his hands, licking their way up his arms but not burning him at all. "And let me be the first to tell you, you won't take me out. I'm not like them." At that Jet laughed so loud he threw his head back, clutching his hands to his stomach.

"Who would have known! The son of Ozai has a sense of humour!" He cackled, making Zuko growl and the flames in his hands grew hotter, like the torch a welder would use. He attacked without preamble and drove Jet backwards with surprising speed and agility, ducking and slicing with his blades of fire, pressing Jet back towards the wall that suddenly grew higher behind him. The Earth Kingdom rebel was hard pressed to say the least, as he ducked and dove away from the angry fore-bender in front of him. Zuko was relentless, never slowing, never wavering as he pushed Jet further and further back, mere inches away from the wall of flame behind them now. Suddenly Katara cried out and Zuko paused just long enough for Jet to see his opening as Zuko started to turn, and lunged forward, hooking his blade into Zuko's chest and jerking upwards and out. Zuko yelled his pain and fury and sent a massive wave of fire towards Jet, but he was so blinded by pain it flew wild and blasted into the street, engulfing power-lines in the fire and consuming them slowly.

Katara smacked Jet away from Zuko with what water she had left as she collapsed by Zuko's side, nearly hysterical in tears as she pressed her cool hands against his chest, willing the few cups full of water she had left to heal his wound. Slowly her hands began to glow blue and she felt his body, his wound, under her fingers as she concentrated on knitting everything neatly back together and stemming the blood flow. He blinked slowly and looked up at her, a small, heartrendingly sad smile on his lips as he lifted his hand and brushed tears from her cheeks.

"I'm so...so sorry Katara." He whispered as Katara felt herself start to panic again as the light started to fade in his eyes somewhat. She willed the water in her hands to heal him faster before she lost him completely.

"No, no, no." She whispered, trying to smile for his sake as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer to her, lifting his head and placing it in her lap. "Please don't leave me. Please, please Zuko. Don't leave me." She whispered over and over as she rocked him back and forth in her lap, her arms wrapped protectively around his chest, her hands had long since stopped glowing.

"Zuko?" She wailed, her heart breaking as she felt fresh tears burn her cheeks. "Zuko!" She cried loudly before she sensed a presence behind her. Turning slowly her molten gaze traveled up Jet's face and landed on his eyes, freezing him in place more efficiently than if she had used ice to lock him to the ground. She gently lowered Zuko so he was lying flat on the ground as she turned to face Jet.

"You know, I said, I swore, that I would never use this technique. I swore to my mother Jet, I promised her I would never do this." Her eyed hardened into twin points of sparkling ice as she spoke, and her hands lifted, her fingers crooking into a strange spidery gesture. "I think I can make an exception." And with that Jet went rigid as her fingers crooked more and she jerked her hands upwards, pulling Jet to his toes as she did so.

"What...what are you doing?" He cried as she pulled his body closer and closer to hers. Her voice was steely when she spoke again.

"I'm a master water-bender Jet. I can bend any water, anywhere, including in your blood." She jerked him upright before her so she could stare into his eyes, letting him feel the full weight of her fury. "This is for Zuko!" She screamed and brought her hands up only to be stopped when someone called her name. She glanced over her shoulder to see her friends gathered around Zuko's body and Toph running towards her.

"Katara stop! He's alive! His heart is beating! Don't do it!" She yelled, rushing up to Katara who slowly let her hands drop to her side, dropping her control over Jet's body as she did so. He collapsed to the ground when she released him and curled into a ball, crying in pain. Katara swayed slightly, her legs no longer able to hold her up as she sagged with relief. Toph caught her elbow and helped her stagger over to Zuko and collapse by his side. He looked up at her blearily and smiled slightly, his hand reaching up to touch her face. Her hands caught his fingers and she pressed her lips to them, kissing the tip of each finger as she did so.

Toph felt the heartbeats of her two friends and knew it must have been a touching sight. She didn't speak when she felt one of Jet's goonies pull Jet to his feet and drag him away from his lost battle. She didn't speak when they drove away, she didn't call attention to his escape, but she noted it, logged it away in her mind for later, then returned her attention back to her friends. She leaned into Aang when he wrapped an arm around her and squeezed her gently.

"So much for a good night." She whispered softly so he could hear. She felt him shake with a slight laugh.

"We're all alive." He said and she felt his lips pressed briefly against her temple in a loving caress, which made her smile on the inside.

"Yeah, yeah we are." She agreed quietly.

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**End Note: I do hope you enjoyed that. Thank you to my beta reader who caught all my clumsy little mistakes, he helps me make this story what it is. Next chapter will be slightly different as I'll be catering slightly to the TAang crowd a bit more and go into their back-stories a bit, because, let's face it, it can't be all smut all the time. Well, it could, but then it wouldn't be as good of a story. Anyways, as always, thank you for reading my fic and I hope I delivered enough entertainment to satisfy!**

**Also, don't expect an update this weekend as I'll be out of town, but I'll see if I can put something up on Monday. We shall see! Have a lovely week all.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: Sooo...this chapter was hard for me. I generally don't write TAang, or have anything to do with anything other than Zutara, so this chapter caused a lot of writer's block for me. I had everything planned out, with outlines and all sorts of fancy writing techniques, but I still feel like it's crap. Ahh well, next chapter will once again be all Zutara so hopefully it'll be better. I wanted to try and expound upon my current repertoire but perhaps I should work on that a bit later, eh? Ahh well, it was necessary to move the story along. Next chapter will be much better I promise. For now, on with the shit storm. Fasten your seat-belts, it will all be over soon. **

Aang watched as Katara curled up next to Zuko's hospital bed, her long legs were tucked up under herself and her arms were folded into a haphazard pillow for her head to rest on. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was wildly strewn across her face and neck, to curl and tangle down her back. She shifted slightly, and, even in her hazy and fitful dream world, she reached a hand out to search for Zuko and hold tightly to his wrist. However he did not shift when she touched him, but laid quite motionless, still under the effect of the powerful anesthetic they had to use on him because of his being a fire-bender. His body just seemed to naturally burn away toxins it acquired.

Katara had not left his side since he came out of surgery a day and a half ago. She had paced his room like a caged animal, snarled at orderlies and doctors alike, threatened her way around and made sure he was perfectly comfortable while he was stuck here. Aang had no worries that Zuko would be well taken care of while Katara was around, but she was wearing herself so thin for him that she was starting to not take as good of care of herself. Toph had finally managed to convince her to sleep, but Katara had refused to leave, and so she slept, uncomfortable, but she slept. Aang was grateful for small favors.

He turned and headed out of the small room then and found Toph a few feet away talking to a doctor who seemed slightly unnerved by her blind gaze. He was a professional however and was answering every question she threw his way.

"Yes Miss Bei Fong you all should be able to leave soon enough. He seems to be a resilient young man, that wound would have killed anyone else. While the damage was extensive your friend in there kept it from being as bad as it could have been. When the anesthesia wears off you will probably be able to take him home soon after that. I'm not too concerned with infection at this point as his body will just burn it away. What does concern me, however, is fever, so I'd like to keep him for another 24 hours after he wakes." The doctor was explaining as Aang walked up and wrapped an arm around Toph who didn't budge in the slightest.

"Thanks Doc." Was all she said as she turned her face towards Aang slightly and let out a breath. "Sparky is going to make it." She said simply, never having been one for emotions or the toils they took on the body, both mentally and physically.

"That's good to know." He said as she finally relaxed her shoulders and leaned into him somewhat. He couldn't help the small smile that touched his lips. "I don't think Katara would accept anything less." He remarked, still smiling and chuckling to himself.

"I think she'd travel to the Spirit world and drag him back here herself if she had to." Toph agreed and allowed Aang to steer her towards the cafeteria, neither one of them having eaten anything since breakfast and deciding to grab something for Katara while they were down there. They grabbed a few plates of food and made their way back up to Zuko's room slowly. "Do you think she knows yet?" Toph was asking as they shuffled across the floor, trays stacked in their hands, taking their time so they didn't have to wake Katara up too soon after she had finally gotten some sleep.

"Knows what?" Aang asked, tilting his head to the side as he stared at a generic, nondescript hospital painting they passed.

"That she loves him." Toph said with a lazy shrug of her shoulder as she neatly stepped to the side of an orderly that went rushing past her. Aang whistled lowly as he watched.

"Wish I knew how you did that." He shook his head and watched as they passed another painting. Toph laughed weakly and shrugged again, the rise and fall of her shoulder looked painful, like it took entirely too much energy for her to use.

"I'm blind. I see better than you do. Now answer my question." She said, giving him as pointed of a look as she could. Aang smiled somewhat and shook his head, turning his face towards the floor.

"No. I don't think she knows yet. Knowing Katara it will take a while for her to figure it out." He said as a rueful laugh escaped his throat. He was fond of Toph yes, he may have even been falling for her slowly, but for years he had been holding out for Katara who had never looked at him as anything more than a little brother to dote on. It was frustrating to say the least when some random guy showed up and blew all of his hard work right out the window. _But,_ his mind reasoned, _if Zuko had not shown up, you would have never given Toph a second glance._ Aang sighed because it was true. He turned a corner and his arm brushed lightly against the girl's next to him and a jolt of electricity shot through his arm down to his fingertips. He smiled at Toph's soft laughter, maybe she hadn't felt it?

"Yeah, Sweetness can be a little dense." She was saying as Aang smiled, more for his benefit than hers and nodded slightly.

"Yeah." He said softly.

"Miss Bei Fong?" A voice asked and Aang's head snapped up to find an older gentleman walking towards Zuko's room. His hair was a steely gray color and his beard was growing long and silver across his jaw and cheeks. He was dressed in nice pants and a button up shirt with a worn, but well maintained, sports jacket thrown over it.

"Uncle Iroh!" Toph cried and lurched forward, but not before Aang snatched the food away from her before she could spill it. He muttered curses under his breath and followed at a more sedate pace. Toph was hugging Iroh hard, and he was returning the affection with as much enthusiasm as the young woman.

"I came as soon as I heard. Will my nephew be alright?" Iroh was asking even before he had completely released Toph from his hold. "Tell me he will be alright." Iroh practically begged and Aang felt pity for the older man in front of him, watching as worry twisted his brow and concern for his nephew darkened his twinkling eyes. Toph nodded though and patted his arm gently.

"Yeah, Sparky will be just fine. Katara kept him...she...he'll be okay uncle." Toph finally managed and Iroh rested a broad hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. Suddenly his golden eyes lifted to Aang's face and froze the boy in place. His face split into a smile and even though his eyes were still clouded with worry he managed to hold a hand out for Aang to shake.

"I am Iroh, Zuko's uncle. You must be Aang. Both Miss Bei Fong and Zuko have mentioned you before." He said pleasantly as Aang shifted boxes in his arms to shake Iroh's hand, smiling softly himself.

"I didn't know I was so popular!" He said happily as Toph reached her hands out to take boxes, which Aang gladly gave her.

"Zuko has told me all about his new little family and every member in it. And Miss Bei Fong dropped into my life many years ago." Iroh explained patiently, smiling softly as his mind drew him back several years. Toph laughed slightly and shook her head.

"Yeah that was before I met you guys. Uncle Iroh took me in when I ran away from home. Zuko wasn't to pleased with that was he?" She asked, elbowing Iroh gently in his side, making him chortle jovially.

"No indeed. My proud nephew was quite distraught with having our young earth-bender here living with us. He was quite hung up on honour back then and it was a disgrace to the Fire Nation to have our two people mingling." Iroh spoke slowly, enunciating each word and Aang was lulled slightly by the sound of the man's voice.

"It was so great when I stomped his ass!" Toph laughed raucously this time, causing several people to casts glances in her way before scurrying about their business. Iroh placed his hand on her shoulder again and her laugh turned sheepish. "Sorry Uncle Iroh." She said as she scratched the back of her head, still grinning.

"Wow, so you knew Toph when she was still a kid!" Aang piped up, feeling somewhat left out, but not wanting to ruin their moment of reunion and nostalgia.

"Very much so. But I am keeping you from delivering food to someone?" Iroh asked, reaching to push open the door for Aang and Toph. The sight inside made his heart both swell and break in what was the strangest combination of feelings he had ever felt in his long years.

On the one hand it killed him to see his nephew so still and pale lying beneath the scratchy hospital blankets with bandages wrapping around his upper torso and right shoulder. He had dark circles under his eyes and his face was flushed with heat. He didn't move, but his eyes darted to and fro behind his lids as if his dreams were fleeting and restless. He was hooked up to several machines which beeped and made odd noises every few minutes, remarking on his nephew's condition to people who either didn't know what it meant, or didn't seem to care too much about the noises. It had been a long time since Iroh had seen a wound on Zuko from a street fight. He had hoped to never see such things again.

However, and this is what made Iroh smile to himself, there was the young woman curled at his side. She had shifted in her seat and was now resting her head on her arms on the side of Zuko's bed, his hand tucked securely in hers while her long hair played across her head and Zuko's chest. It was as if every part of her being was trying to protect the man before her, even in her sleep. Aang stepped forward silently, hand outstretched to touch her shoulder gently. Iroh had to stifle a laugh, apparently she was a formidable guardian for his nephew. The moment Aang's hand touched her shoulder she jerked backwards, snapping awake with such force she nearly toppled backwards out of her chair. Her wide blue eyes stared around the room for a minute before they landed on Iroh, and narrowed slightly.

"Hello." She greeted politely, if not a bit waspish. Iroh could only smile at her in return and offer his hand for her to shake.

"Hello my dear. I am Iroh, Zuko's uncle." He said as she placed her hand in his and visibly relaxed back into her chair, smiling sweetly up at Iroh.

"Oh. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. I just didn't want another person in here to bother Zuko." She withdrew her hand and stood slowly, as if her muscles were aching and stretching like they had not been moved in a long while. She winced as she finally straightened her back but forced a smile once more. "It's a pleasure to meet you finally. Zuko has spoken of you often. He really admires you." Katara said sweetly as she pushed her heavy fall of hair away from her face, trying to gain a modicum of control over it and failing miserably. She finally sighed and let her dark mahogany tresses fall where they may. She offered a weak smile to Iroh and blushed softly. "I'm sorry I look like such a wreck." She muttered softly and pushed at her hair again. A warm hand on her arm stilled her motions as Katara looked into the kind golden eyes of Zuko's uncle. His smile was comforting, reassuring and made Katara grin sheepishly in return.

"You have taken better care of my family than anyone has before, including myself. I am quite grateful to you for your devotion to Zuko." He said solemnly as he placed his hands together, palms facing, and bowed his head. Katara waved her hands frantically back and forth and shook her head wildly. She suddenly snapped her hands together mimicking Iroh and bowed lower.

"It is my pleasure! No thanks are necessary! Honest!" She gasped out, feeling awkward for having this gentleman offer her reverence. Iroh chuckled again and Katara looked up at him through her long lashes and messy hair. He patted her shoulder and motioned for her to straighten herself up again. Instead she bowed once more and sat back down next to Zuko, reaching for his hand as she did so. Iroh beamed, his eyes twinkling with some emotion Katara couldn't quite put her finger on. Meanwhile Iroh's mind was practically screaming for joy. _Grandchildren!_ He cleared his throat gently and grinned a bit broader at the assembled children before him.

"Perhaps I could have a moment alone with him?" Iroh asked, indicating his nephew with a small wave of his hand. Katara's eyes instantly snapped to Zuko and Aang stifled a small snicker. Toph cleared her throat loudly, but no one was convinced it was anything other than a laugh. Aang stepped forward then and grabbed hold of Katara's arm and practically drug her away from Zuko's bedside. She made a small squeak of protest but Toph took up the rear and pushed her roughly out of the door.

"Come on Sweetness. I doubt uncle Iroh will hurt his flesh and blood. Besides we have food for you." Toph explained and threw a smirk over her should to Iroh before she shut the door on Katara's stricken face. Iroh shook his head gently and took up Katara's former post. He laid his hand gently on Zuko's fevered brow and frowned to himself. He lifted the sheets and checked the bandages wrapped around his nephew's chest and shoulder and sighed softly, tucking the sheets back in gently around the young man. Iroh leaned his elbows on the side of the bed and regarded Zuko with a closed expression, even though his eyes danced with several emotions, not all of which were bad.

"I approve of this one nephew." He began slowly, each word enunciated and said with a purpose. Iroh weighted each word in his mind before speaking, simply because he did not wish to say the wrong thing, and who knew what a person could hear while they were asleep. Who knew what they could remember when they woke again. He lifted Zuko's hand in his own and studied the scars that marred such young skin. A sad smile crept its way onto Iroh's face as he looked at all the scars that traced intricate and inane patterns across Zuko's flesh. Years worth of struggle and torment traced its way across Zuko's body, each scar having a story, and each story being sadder than the last. It pained Iroh to see the damage that had been done to his nephew, his strong nephew, over the years he tried to survive under his father's harsh tutelage. And then, even worse when he had finally broken away from his father, but did not know any other way of acting towards people. It had been worse for him then, without the support and protection of Ozai's company behind him, Zuko had found his way into even more trouble than before. Situations that he had barely managed to escape alive.

Iroh had taken him in after one such incident. By pure fate and luck he had found his nephew wandering down the street which housed his tea shop. By pure luck had he recognized the boy who stood bloody and listing to one side as he staggered up the street, his hand clamped to his side and blood dripping steadily out of a wound he had covered. Iroh had flown to him, caught him up in his arms and took him back inside. Zuko was just this side of being feral. He snarled and growled at each person in the little tea shop, demanded to know what they were looking at. Iroh apologized silently to each person in turn and lead Zuko to the back to clean his wounds. He had offered to take the boy to the doctor, but Zuko had vehemently refused, saying he'd rather be dead than in debt. Iroh had hung his head then and silently patched the boy up. Zuko had never flinched, never made a sound as Iroh cleaned his wounds with rubbing alcohol and peroxide. He didn't bat an eye when Iroh wrapped his wounds tightly in gauze and taped things together.

Iroh sighed and pulled himself from such melancholy thoughts. Things had started to turn around, finally. Iroh wasn't so certain it wasn't because of Toph's little lesson to Zuko when they were still children. She had managed to beat him pretty thoroughly and after that they had formed a somewhat tenuous relationship that bloomed into sibling bonds as they grew older. Making up his mind Iroh decided to ask Toph to join him for dinner tonight. _Perhaps the boy she seems so attached to as well. What was his name? Ong? Aang!_ Iroh smiled to himself upon remembering and turned his gaze back to Zuko. His fever was very slowly, almost imperceptibly slow, going down as time passed and he felt more than comfortable leaving his nephew in the capable hands of the young woman he had met earlier.

"I will come check on you tomorrow nephew." Iroh promised as he squeezed Zuko's hand gently and bent to feather a kiss across his brow. He wasn't often allowed to show affection towards the nephew he loved so much, so he took what opportunities he had and was content. Golden eyes fluttered behind heavy lids before Zuko stilled once more, his breathing even deeper than before. Iroh smiled and rubbed Zuko's hair back from his face before turning slowly and exiting the small room, finding Aang, Toph and Katara hunched together in the waiting room, passing the time with idle chit chat. Toph turned her face towards Iroh first and Katara's head snapped up when she saw him. He smiled reassuringly at her and relief washed through her system in near visible waves. He sidled over to stand behind Toph and drop his hands to her shoulders.

"I was wondering if perhaps you would care to join me for dinner this evening?" He asked her as she turned her face to his and smiled brightly.

"I'd love to Uncle!" She said happily before she reached out and grabbed Aang's wrist. "Him too?" She asked and Iroh smiled happily.

"Of course." He turned towards Katara who was trying her very best to pay attention but her eyes kept darting to the room Zuko was in, obviously distraught that no one was in there to protect him. "I would ask you as well my dear, but I doubt you would leave his side long enough to enjoy a meal." Katara's eyes darted to his and she stiffened as he spoke.

"Am I," She paused as if searching for the right words and Iroh waited patiently. "Am I over stepping bounds?" She asked finally, her face was stricken once more as sadness filled her blue eyes and Iroh felt his heartstrings give an uncomfortable tug. He smiled serenely and shook his head slowly.

"No my dear. I am pleased that Zuko has someone so diligent that can watch over him for me. I am, unfortunately, a busy man and cannot afford the time to keep my eyes on him constantly. It is a comfort to know that such a woman has taken such an interest in my Zuko and is willing to stay by his side." He reached out and took her hand, patting it gently. "It eases my mind greatly. Thank you." He said sincerely as Katara relaxed somewhat and slumped back into her chair.

"Sure you won't join us?" Aang asked softly, a hopeful look in his dove gray eyes. Katara smiled and shook her head slightly.

"Sugar Queen has better things to do right now Twinkle toes." Toph said, looping her arm through his and smiling widely at Katara. It was a smile of naught but mischief and it made Katara cringe slightly.

"Please behave. I really don't want to have to bail you out of jail...again." She muttered as she sulked quietly, images of the tough little earth-bender fussing and bickering at the jail house. She had caused a bit of a ruckus when the floor had buckled beneath the guards and Toph had cackled madly at them all. Katara rubbed away a headache before it could form between her eyes.

"Come on Sweetness! Live a little!" Toph cackled before she turned and began to lead Aang away. Iroh nodded once to Katara before he followed after the young couple walking away before him. Katara smiled as she watched them go, then pushed herself slowly to her feet and wobbled back into Zuko's room. She plunked down by his bed and pulled a tray closer to her so she could nibble on some of the food Toph and Aang had brought back for her. She watched Zuko's chest rise and fall slowly, his breathing was deep and steady and he didn't seem to be in too much pain as he rested quietly. Katara pushed her food aside and tugged the blanket up higher on his body, hoping to help him break his fever sooner. She resumed her earlier post and tucked her legs up under her body once more before she wrapped her arms around them and laid her head on her knees.

Maybe she would go and purchase a book later.

XXXXXXXXXX

Iroh led the two youngsters out of the hospital and towards his old Volvo. Zuko balked at the idea of the car in general, but it was reliable, and Iroh was fairly certain he could literally drive the car until it fell apart around him. He turned to the two teens and smiled slightly.

"I am afraid I still have a tea shop to run-" He started to say but Toph cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"We can help." She volunteered and Aang glanced down at her.

"Huh? We can?" She elbowed him in the side and he winced then glanced at Iroh. Suddenly it dawned on him how tired the old man looked. His face was drawn with worry, and dark circles sat heavy under his eyes. His eyes, which still held a slight twinkle, were dulled with a lack of sleep and too many burdens. He suddenly nodded.

"Yeah! We can help!" And Toph smiled and nodded beside him.

"Besides, uncle, what is it you always said to me?" Toph straightened herself up and placed her hand on her chest as she deepened her voice and recited. "'My dear, burdens are like tea, they are often best shared with others.'" She mimicked and caused Iroh to smile widely and even laugh a little.

"Alright. I would welcome the company, but you do not have to work." He said sternly as he shuffled the teens into his car and drove off.

Thirty minutes later found both Toph and Aang dressed in aprons and running through the shop filing and delivering orders to waiting customers. Iroh was busily making every tea order while an older woman was cooking food with incredible efficiency. It was a small shop by all accounts but people seemed to travel from all over the city to get a taste of Iroh's gourmet tea blends, or if not that, then to sample Yugoda's fresh foods and pastries. Toph was laughing, not in her usual raucous way, but in a delighted almost _girlish_ way that had Aang stumped. He had never heard her voice sound so soft or sweet. It was mesmerizing.

He often caught himself staring at her as she glided back and forth between the kitchens and the patrons in the small dining area. _She really is quite beautiful,_ his mind supplied as he wrenched his gaze from her petite form to take an order from the customers in front of him. The woman before him gave him a knowing smile which made him blush all the way down to his toes, and gave her order. He nodded quickly then dashed back into the kitchen area to hide his face. The three already back there stopped to watch his blustery entrance.

"Ah, eh, sorry." He muttered and hung his head.

"You ok Twinkle toes? Your heart is hammering really hard." Toph asked as she sidled up to him, her face pointed towards his chest as she cradled a tray in her hands. He stared down at her for a moment, taking in her flawless porcelain skin, which shocked him as she was such a rough and tumble kind of girl. Her hair was done up in a high bun, but long tendrils of black escaped and fluttered around her face, but for once, didn't hide her eyes. Her cheeks were rosy from exertion and her lips were pink and full from sips of tea and talking and laughing. She really was beautiful. His heart gave a painful lurch.

"Like that! That can't be good!" She said as she shifted the tray and placed her tiny hand on his chest. He had seen her move veritable mountains before, but never had he seen _her._ She was tiny and delicate, but so far from frail it made him wonder who she had been before becoming the Earth Rumble Champion and joining their little group. His heart ached at so many lost opportunities to get to know the woman who stood before him now, concern written plainly across her features as she studied him through touch.

_She's touching my chest._ He thought idly before his face lit up once more and he staggered a step back. "Right! No, I'm fine!" His voice cracked and he tried to cover it with a cough. "Really, no I'm ok. Just a little winded from running around so much. This place is bu-sy!" He said drawing out the word and laughing awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head. Toph gave him a skeptical look.

"Right. You're odd." She said as she turned and loaded her tray with tea and food and disappeared back into the crowd. Iroh and Yugoda exchanged a look very reminiscent of the one the woman from before gave him and glanced his way. Aang faltered slightly and looked around for something to distract himself.

"Jasmine! I need Jasmine tea please." He said loudly, causing several patrons to turn their heads towards the kitchen, and Aang to blush so hard it hurt. "Please." He whispered and ducked his head, hoping behind all hope he could just go crawl into a corner and die right there. A heavy hand landed on his shoulder after a moment and Aang spared a brief glance into Iroh's sympathetic face. Iroh patted his shoulder gently before striding away to begin preparation for Aang's order. Yugoda smiled softly and went back to decorating her pastries as she hummed a quiet tune to herself.

The rest of the evening went quietly, with the number of patrons dwindling slowly as the night progressed, until there were only one or two stragglers left as the shop closed. Iroh shooed them out gently, a smile still on his face as he waved good bye and closed and locked his doors. He sighed deeply and leaned against the doors, surveying the mess of his store. It was, surprisingly, still relatively clean. He chuckled when he noticed Aang busy with busing the tables and stacking tea cups and dishes carefully into a tub to take back into the kitchen. Toph was sweeping the floor, making neat little piles of trash and debris at her feet before sweeping them up and depositing them into the dumpster outside.

"Thank you both for your hard work." Iroh said as he approached the two, who smiled at him in return.

"Thanks for having us! This was fun." Aang said happily, wiping down another table as he went. Toph nodded and swept a little eddy of dust into the air.

"Brings back memories." She said softly, her blank gaze angled towards the floor. Aang blinked at her and she laughed. "I used to work for Uncle a long time ago." She offered with a bit of a smile towards him.

"She was my hardest worker back when she first came to stay with Zuko and I." Iroh explained, expounding on what Toph had said. She blushed prettily and Aang couldn't help the smile that touched his lips. He blinked again.

"Wait, you lived with Zuko? When was this?" Aang asked as Toph rested her weight lightly on the broom she had propped against the ground.

"Good evening Iroh." Yugoda called from the back as she finished her duties and got ready to leave.

"Good evening Yugoda! I will see you tomorrow." Iroh replied, leaning back to glance in the kitchen and smile at the older woman. Her eyes crinkled with her own grin and she nodded before stepping out the back door towards the parking lot. He turned his attention back to the two teenagers before him and their awkward stances. He clapped his hands together and beamed as he spoke. "How about some tea and dinner?" He asked as he brushed past them towards his coat and went to make for the door. Aang and Toph followed slowly behind after grabbing their own coats and setting their aprons aside.

Iroh drove them leisurely to his home and pulled into the alleyway beside his house. It was a tall and narrow building and had been renovated from an old factory it used to be, to the apartments it was currently. The outside was of an unremarkable red brick with windows spaced every few feet to let in all available light. Toph shifted her feet across the ground and smiled softly.

"Hasn't changed much has it uncle Iroh?" She asked as she followed the older man towards the front door. He chuckled softly and shook his head.

"Not so much my dear." Iroh drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his lips, and reminding Aang greatly of Zuko. "That is what I love most about home. No matter who comes or who goes, or where you may move to, so long as there is love in a building then it will remain a home until the end of its days." He grinned as he pushed open the front door. "Welcome home my dear." He said to Toph, who, if Aang didn't know any better, had little crystalline tears glittering on her long dark lashes.

"It's good to be back uncle." She said softly as she shuffled inside, and despite being blind, knew her way around everything. Aang watched as she trailed her fingers across the back of an old worn couch, only to circle around that and plop down in an old armchair and prop her feet on an ottoman. She laughed softly, a look of nostalgia dancing across her features as she pushed herself back up and headed past the two men for the kitchen. Iroh silently watched her and when Aang glanced at him, he noticed that some of the tension had eased from the older man's face. He looked more youthful, less tired, and even a little happier. Aang looked back towards Toph and sighed almost inaudibly. She looked so beautiful, like she belonged in this _home_ that he was a stranger to. His thoughts suddenly darkened as he hung his head slightly.

"The beautiful place about a home," Iroh said quietly, his voice rumbling next to Aang. "Is that no matter _who_ comes and goes, so long as a building is filled with _love_, it is a home." He gave Aang a look that spoke volumes of a story Aang didn't know, but could easily imagine and moved into the kitchen after Toph.

"Shall we start dinner?" He asked jovially and Toph nodded eagerly. Aang stood there for a minute before he realized he had been invited into yet another family. His face suddenly lit up with a bright grin and he stepped forward to join the other two.

They talked and laughed and reminisced most of the night away that evening. Toph and Iroh telling story after story of her time living with the two fire-benders, for indeed Iroh was a very powerful fire-bender as he had shown Aang with his level of control, and the trouble she and Zuko had gotten into when they were younger.

She was laughing loudly as she spoke, "Oh uncle! Remember that time Zuko and I went to that pool hall downtown?" She cackled loudly, tears glittering in her eyes once more, but from mirth, not sorrow. Aang tilted his head and looked at Iroh who's smile was slightly pained.

"How could I forget." He muttered then glanced at Aang and sighed. "Our young lady here was quite the trouble maker when she first came to live with me. Zuko was as well. And while they had bonded quickly, I'm afraid they would not extend the same graciousness to the rest of the world for quite some time. What were you two even doing out there?" Iroh asked suddenly, an odd mixture of emotions passing over his face. Aang knew a few, the exasperation of a guardian, the love and worry of a parent, and the indulgence of an old man with two children to dote on. Toph grinned like a shark.

"Hustlin'." She said simply and Iroh waved his hand.

"Of course you were." He sighed again then turned to Aang. "Do you see what I had to endure?" Aang nodded slowly and watched Toph as she nibbled daintily on a few pastries and kept grinning. "Well, I get an officer on my door step late that evening, after I had fretted and panicked and called them both and everyone they knew countless times. The lovely officer had them both handcuffed and lead them into my house. He gently explained to me why my children were hooligans, uncuffed them, and left. It looked as though they had been in a bar fight, and since I did not know where they were, I did not know the truth of that statement at that time." He shook his head slowly, but that smile tugged even harder at his lips and Aang saw the physical effort he put into stopping it.

"So some guy tried to cheat us out of our hard earned money! No way Zuko and I were going to take that lying down! We had to show him who's boss! And I may have earth-bended a little bit to show him who was boss." She admitted grinning slightly, like a guilty child caught. "Zuko didn't need to bend, he just used pool ques. He's pretty good with weapons actually. I never asked him how he got to be so proficient with them." She wondered idly to herself and Iroh stiffened.

"His father." Was all he offered on the subject and Toph stilled. Aang looked between the two confused.

"What about his father?" He asked, leaning forward in his seat slightly.

"If Zuko wants you to know then he'll tell you. I think Katara may have figured it out though." Iroh glanced at Toph as she spoke. "She wouldn't be that protective over someone she didn't think deserved it." She shrugged slightly. "Plus she loves him." She added with a sly smirk and Iroh clapped his hands together.

"I knew it! Grandchildren!" He glanced at Aang out of the corner of his eye and grinned even broader. "Perhaps two sets of grandchildren." He murmured and Toph choked on her tea. Aang laughed and reached over to rub her back gently. She sputtered but he took over.

"Let's wait until we're doing the official dating thing first?" He asked good naturedly as his blush deepened and grew. Iroh nodded sagely.

"Yes of course." While his mind chanted _Grandchildren!_ Over and over.

"Besides, I still don't know that much about you." Aang continued, still rubbing Toph's back, despite the fact that she had finished coughing and now sat scrubbing the tears from her eyes. "Like, how did you come to live with Iroh and Zuko?"

She paused for a fraction of a second before resumed rubbing at her eyes, a bit more gently now. "I ran away." She said shortly and Aang saw a look of sorrow pass over both Iroh and Toph's faces. He looked between the two, confused. Runaways were common, and generally it wasn't that bad. Generally. "My mom and dad were going to force me to marry someone I didn't know, much less love. I told them I was going off to teach earth-benders. I haven't seen them since." And with that she stood up, gathered her plates and took them to the sink before stomping off up the stairs. Aang stared after her and blinked a few times, trying to clear the confusion from his mind.

"What?" Was the most intelligent answer he managed after a few minutes as he turned to Iroh who was sipping his tea silently. The elder man shook his head slowly and sighed as he placed his tea down gently.

"It is a sensitive subject for her." He said, his voice carried the weight of Toph's pain in it and Aang felt himself slump a little bit. It must have been worse than he thought.

"What happened?" He asked quietly, trying to be as humble as he possibly could to persuade Iroh's answer. Iroh regarded him quietly for a few more moments before he lifted his cup and took another small sip before he spoke.

"Toph's story is much like Zuko's. And if you were anyone else I would not tell you these things. But I think you are important to little Miss Bei Fong." Iroh said sternly and Aang lowered his head, looking properly humbled this time. Iroh nodded and drew a deep breath to being his story. "When I found Toph she had just turned fourteen. I can't tell you how long she was on the streets, but her clothes were dirty, she was covered in bruises and scratches, and she was covered in grime. She looked emaciated and gaunt as she staggered down the street. Apparently my tea shop beckons to wayward souls that need help." He chuckled softly and shook his head. Aang didn't feel like it was appropriate for him to laugh as well, like he would have interrupted a memory he could not fully appreciate. After another moment Iroh continued.

"I brought her in and offered her a meal and a bath. She had much the same attitude Zuko did. She said she didn't want to be in my debt. I offered a trade then. She could work for me and instead of money I would give her food and shelter as payment. I noticed quickly that she had no idea how to conduct herself as an employee. She expected everything to be done _for her_ and did not understand that her role was to serve others. Zuko was working with me as well and they got into very bad fights. Business was not so good for a little bit there. But, I think, as in nature fire and earth can work well together they learned how to compromise. Earth sustains fire, while fire burns away the old and decrepit so that the new may bloom and blossom. It also didn't hurt that she was quite capable at earth-bending and did, in fact, stomp Zuko's butt." Iroh chortled then, and Aang smiled along with him. He could picture that easily as he had often been on the receiving end of one of Toph's "little" games.

"It was then that I noticed that she did have quite a knack for earth-bending, but nothing she had refined into perfection yet. You have noticed she can bend metal?" Iroh asked, for the first time including Aang into his story. Aang nodded quickly, relieved that Iroh did remember he was there. "I found a master to teach her earth-bending. She quickly surpassed him in all aspects and as she did, her confidence grew. Zuko was still quite wild and would often drag her along with him into the lion's den, and she would willingly go. That is where she learned how to bend metal, I'm not entirely sure what happened, all they told me was that there were chains involved. But I digress. You see, her parents had kept her sequestered away from the world, simply because she was blind." Aang gasped quietly and leaned forward.

"She's the most capable person I know!" He said indignantly and smacked his hand against the table to make his point. Iroh merely nodded.

"I'm aware my boy. Her parents were quite an influential family in Ba Sing Se, very wealthy and very highly thought of. They did not see Toph as a person, they saw her as a handicap, and while they had only the best intentions for her, they did not know how to act on these things. They did the best they could to provide for her future."

"How do you know that?" Aang asked, staring at Iroh with wide eyes. Iroh chuckled softly.

"Do not tell her, but I spoke to her parents shortly after I figured out who she was exactly. They demanded that I return her, and I kindly reminded them that she was not mine to return. Shortly after that they disowned her, that she is aware of. What she is not aware of is that fact that I became her legal guardian immediately after. She had wedged her way into the hearts of two fire-benders, a feat that few earth-benders can say they have accomplished in their lives." Iroh said, chuckling softly as he did so. It seemed that he had many fond memories of his two, despite all the bad that had happened in their lives.

A soft sound, like the coo of a dove floated down from the stairway. Aang turned slowly as Iroh lifted his head to stare at the young woman framed in the doorway. She was facing them as she slowly stepped forward and entered the kitchen proper.

"Did you really-?" She asked as she turned her face to the ground. She lifted her head once more, her hair falling into her eyes. "Did you really adopt me?" She finished, she barely moved, her body was poised and still, awaiting Iroh's answer. His face split into a large smile.

"Yes. I really did." He said, and in the next moment she launched herself at him, her tiny arms wrapped tightly around his neck as she sobbed happily into his shoulder. Aang smiled sadly and went to move away, but before he could make it two steps a voice stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Toph asked as she released Iroh somewhat to turn and face Aang. He blushed.

"I, uhm, I was just...gonna go over here?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head and shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Toph crooked her finger and Aang stared at her, unmoving.

"Get your ass over here Twinkle Toes! This is a family moment, and if we're going to be dating, you're part of the family!" Toph snapped, though her smile was radiant and inviting. Aang stared at her little longer.

"We're dating?" He asked, a goofy smile spreading across his face.

"Well yeah! Now come here so I can hug you!" She demanded, making Iroh laugh and Aang practically float over to her. He grabbed her hand and enveloped her into a hug, one which she returned fully and buried her face into the crook of his neck. "You know, it's really nice that you aren't that tall. I don't have to scale you like a tree to get a kiss." And with that she pulled his face to hers and kissed him soundly.

In that moment, they were both lighter than air.

XXXXXXXXXX

Katara browsed through the limited book selection of the gift shop at the hospital. It really was rather pathetic but she needed something to do other than worry. Aang and Toph were right, she needed to relax somewhat otherwise she was liable to collapse from exhaustion. She sighed softly and switched her gaze between a horrible romance novel, and a not quite as horrible romance novel. Her attention was so focused on her books she didn't notice a woman stroll in, dressed all in red, with sharp heels that snapped against the linoleum floor as she walked.

Azula made her way quickly up to Zuko's room. She had heard from Mai that he had been injured in the fight with Jet. Jet seemed to be Mai's newest interest, but that seemed to work perfectly for Azula. Now, instead of just exploiting one individual, she could manipulate two. Her plans were going to go much more smoothly now.

She paused in front of Zuko's door for a fraction of a moment then pushed the door open and stepped inside. Her brother lay spread before her, helpless, but she hadn't come here to kill him. Truth to tell she didn't want him dead, that would ruin all of her plans, and after all, he was her brother. She stared down at him for a long moment, thinking of the perfect thing to say when golden eyes fluttered slightly.

"Good morning Zuzu." She said sweetly, as his eyes rolled wildly and tried to focus on her. He scowled and reached up to rub his head, but his arms felt as heavy as lead.

"A-zula?" He asked, his tongue tripping over the simple name as his mind tried to slog through the fog the anesthesia produced. "What are you-?" He began but she cut him off with a sharp slice of her hand.

"I came to check on you Zuzu, of course." She said with her sweet tone, dripping venom as she continued. "I was hoping you weren't, in fact, dead. That would ruin _all_ of my plans and I can't have that, . I need you alive to return to father's side. I'm afraid when you left he made _me_ his enforcer, and that just won't do. You see, I have far too much to accomplish to be relegated to such a simple duty, but it takes up all of my time. I really don't know how you did it for so long, brother. It's quite taxing." She leaned forward then, bracing her hands on his bed near his face. He glared at her, and even while drugged, it was slightly unnerving. Azula would never admit that, to herself or anyone, but deep down, she was afraid of Zuko. She may be a prodigy, but he possessed a raw power she could never hope to attain in her studies. "So here's the deal, I'm going to let you get better, and then I'm going to come back for you. If you come with me willingly, I won't hurt your new little girlfriend. I can't promise Mai won't try something, but I wouldn't really worry about her. What do you say, brother?" She asked, her smile twisting her face and causing Zuko to glare harder.

"Fuck off." He said, those two words ringing out clearly in the air between them and Azula had to take a step back. She scowled, her anger bubbling to her, otherwise cool surface.

"Wrong answer Zuzu." She hissed as she raked her nails across his scar, causing him the growl at her. She took another step back then turned and headed for the door. It opened just as she got to it, framing the body of the water tribe peasant she had seen on stage with her brother. She still looked like a vagabond.

"Get out of my way." Azula snapped, but Katara's face hardened and the water in the cup she was carrying for Zuko froze solid.

"Who the fuck are you?" She demanded, stepping into Azula's personal space and causing the other girl to step back slightly.

"Watch your mouth when speaking to me peasant!" Azula hissed again, hands clenched at her sides. She couldn't make a scene here, her father would be most disappointed in her. Katara's eyes narrowed dangerously as she took another step forward.

"I don't know who you are, but I swear if you've hurt Zuko-" But her threat was waved away.

"I wouldn't hurt my own brother." Azula grinned wickedly then at the shocked face on the woman in front of her.

"His sister?" She asked, looking Azula over, and it took everything she had not to curl her lip as the peasant eyed her.

"Of course. Don't you see the resemblance?" And with that she pinned Katara with a glare, her golden eyes sparking her inner fire. Katara leaned back slightly before steeling herself and taking another step forward.

"I don't give a fuck who you are. Get out of here." She punctuated each word with a jab of her finger into Azula's shoulder. Azula balked at the contact and shoved Katara away. The water-bender didn't move much.

"How dare you touch me!" She shrieked, albeit quietly so as not to draw too much attention to herself. She snarled in Katara's face. "Watch yourself peasant." She warned before shoving past the water-bender and striding down the hallway, her footsteps fading into the distance as she left. Katara seethed quietly. She growled before turning around and walking to Zuko's bed. He was watching her silently and her heart leapt for joy.

"You're awake!" She cried and, forgetting her book and his drink, flung herself against him, careful to miss his bandages. "I was so scared!" She whimpered and buried her face in his uninjured shoulder. He tried again to lift his arms, and managed to flop them ungracefully across her waist.

"Nothing was going to happen to me." He whispered against her hair, smiling slightly at having her close again. "I had you to take care of me, didn't I?" He said as she pulled away slightly, gazing deeply into his eyes. All these people were wrong about him. His eyes told his story better than anything else every could. They held compassion and courage, rage and sorrow, joy and most importantly hope. He had hope for better things, it was written right there in the golden depths of his eyes. Katara smiled brightly.

"I haven't left your side." She whispered as she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss upon his lips. She had never been happier to see someone wake up.

**End Note: I thought that was never going to end, didn't you? I don't think I'm going to tackle TAang for a long while. Back to Zutara! Yay! I am sorry for the segway, but I felt it necessary as an author to try different venues, and apparently that wasn't one for me. Two weeks. Two weeks I've been staring at this chapter with hatred. I've rewritten it dozens of times and finally just had to settle on this. Next chapter will be much better, I promise. We're going to explore a LITTLE tiny bit of the Jet/Mai theme. Very tiny. Once again, next chapter will be solely Zutara based. Halleluja!**

**PS I wanted to get this up as quickly as I could. My lovely beta reader is still going over it but I felt so horrible for making everyone (all 8 of you) wait that I wanted to put this up ASAP. An edited version will replace this one shortly! Thank you so much for stopping by and please review? Thank you!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Not much to say actually. Sorry it took so long. School is kicking my ass. Please enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender...only the delightfully twisted things I put them through. I make no money off of this.**

Zuko touched the puckered skin of the wound on his chest as he stared at his bathroom mirror. It had been one week since he had been allowed to leave the hospital and, according to Katara, he was healing beautifully. He didn't see it. All he saw was another scar on his body and it disgusted him deep down. He would never be a whole person again and he hated it. Even if he truly left the streets for good, they would follow him around for the rest of his life in the stories his body told. He growled softly and let his head drop forward, his fingers holding the sink in a white-knuckled grip.

There was a loud crash from down the stairs which wrenched Zuko violently from his thoughts. He scowled and sighed softly. His home had become a veritable zoo over the past week, what with people coming and going constantly. Toph had practically moved back in with them since Iroh had told her he had officially adopted her years ago. Zuko was fine with this, seeing as how Toph had been more a sister to him than his own blood. But with Toph came Aang, who followed her around like the love sick puppy he was. Zuko's stomach roiled at how cute they were together, constantly cooing to one another and making doe-eyes at the other (at least Aang would, until Toph would punch him saying it lost the effect due to her blindness). The bubbly sappiness was killing him slowly.

He heard Sokka's loud yell from down the stairs a few moments later and cringed. Sokka had followed Katara on the pretense of _protecting_ her from Zuko's wanton advances. Oh if Sokka only knew what a little vixen his baby sister could be. He jerked his thoughts from such things when he heard a soft voice following Sokka's yell, a voice that could only belong to Suki. Suki, of course, tagged along with Sokka. Zuko began to wonder if they were physically attached to one another somehow. He heard another loud 'thump' and he had the vicious urge to just ignore everyone and stay in his room like a hermit all day.

_A bloody zoo._ Zuko thought sourly as he toweled himself off gently and pulled his clothes on slowly. He pushed open his bathroom door to see Katara sprawled out on his bed, reading quietly, for which he was grateful. She glanced up at him and graced him with a dazzling smile as she put her book down and sat up slowly.

"Hey there." She said softly as he moved towards her and flopped down gingerly beside her. "How are you feeling?" She asked as she leaned forward to look at his healing wound. He flinched slightly when her cool fingers touched his skin, but relaxed when the hurt didn't come. It never did when Katara touched him, but old habits died hard in his mind. She had long since stopped reacting to his flinching. At first she had been hurt that he hadn't trusted her, but after quick explanations and much apologizing on his part, Katara had merely smiled at him and kissed him. He was more afraid of the feelings she inspired in him than he would ever admit.

"I've been worse." He said simply and she arched her brow at him, clearly not pleased with his answer. He smiled softly and traced the soft line of her cheek with his finger tips. "You're taking good care of me." He amended and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. She smiled again before pushing herself off his bed and walking towards the door.

"I'm going to make breakfast, do you want anything in specific?" She asked as she watched him over her shoulder. He shook his head minutely.

"Peace and quiet." He said softly, and Katara gave him a sad smile, swooped down to kiss him, then vanished out the door. He sat there a moment dumbstruck as he often was around the water-woman before he pushed himself to his feet and ambled down the stairs to the typhoon that was his band-mates ransacking his kitchen. A headache lanced into his skull and sat heavily behind his good eye. He frowned deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve some of he tension he felt.

Something warm and squishy smacked into his face a second later, covering the unblemished part of his face, and smelling strongly of egg. It sat heavy and wet over his good eye and Zuko tried very hard not to cringe as he moved his hand and slowly wiped part of an omelet off his face. His temper flared inside his chest but he held it back. It was almost too painful to try and curb.

"The fuck?" He asked, mostly to himself as he stared at the egg and vegetable remnants clinging to his fingers as Sokka burst out laughing, nearly falling from his chair as he laughed. Toph snickered to herself and Aang buried his face in the back of her shoulders so Zuko couldn't see his laughter as well.

"I'm so sorry man!" Sokka cackled and Zuko frowned even harder as he walked over and grabbed a dish towel to try and clean his face off. To say he was irate was being rather untruthful as smoke began to curl from his nostrils every time he released a breath that was supposed to be calming. Before he could retort to Sokka however, he saw Katara walk over and calmly smack her brother across the back of his head with a spatula, leaving eggy bits in his hair in her wake. She didn't say anything but merely turned away and tossed the spatula in the sink and rooted around for a new one.

Sokka wailed and Suki patted his arm gently, trying to calm him down. Before any of them knew anything it was an all out food war as Sokka scooped up a bit of tomato and hurled it at the back of Katara's head. Wet and slimy bits of egg flew through the air and splattered against the walls. Half cooked vegetables bounced and rolled across counters, tables and the floor. Zuko's fury was building by the second.

"Damnit Sokka!" He heard Katara yell and witnessed the strangest thing ever. She bent the water in Sokka's oatmeal and splattered it all over his face as he sputtered and coughed and tried to wipe his face off.

"Oatmeal bending!" Aang squealed and dove for a bowl to try his hand at it. He may not be able to bend water, but he could bend air, and that was good enough to fling oatmeal. Toph died laughing as she ducked and dodged food particles that came flying her way. Zuko wasn't so lucky. He shook with silent rage as the food battle continued in his kitchen until he finally couldn't take it it anymore.

Another bit of egg flew past his head but before it could hit his wall fire engulfed it and vaporized the egg to ashes. "Enough!" He yelled, his voice deep and resonating out through the room and rattling the bones of the occupants. Everyone paused, Aang with oatmeal hovering between his hands, and Katara with a fistful of her brother's hair in her hand and a dangerous tail of water snaking around her fist. Suki and Toph were tucked away under the table, keeping safe from most of the fighting happening.

"Everyone out." Zuko said slowly, coldly, despite the heat rising in his body. Everyone had varying levels of disbelief etched on their faces.

"But Zuzu," Toph began and his temper snapped out of the tenuous hold he had on it. He really hated that nickname.

"Out!" He roared and fire danced around his form. Sokka was the first to bolt for the door, his hand locked tightly around Suki's wrist as he drug her behind himself in his bid for freedom. He certainly didn't want to contend with an angry fire-bender. He knew what Zuko was capable of. Toph curled her lip in an impressive snarl as she reached for Aang who took her hand, looking for all the world like a beaten puppy.

"You know, that's one thing I didn't miss about living here. You're fucking temper!" She spat as she pulled Aang along behind her. Those words only seemed to fuel his ire on further.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have come back." He snapped and smacked his hand down on the table, burning a mark under his palm.

"Fine asshole!" Toph shouted and jerked Aang out of the door, slamming it loudly behind her.

"Zuko." Katara breathed and his head snaked around so he could glare at her.

"What?" He hissed, but didn't register when she took a step back, away from his anger.

"That wasn't very nice." She said softly as her hands fluttered uselessly in front of her chest.

"Oh I'm so sorry." The sarcasm was thick enough to choke on. "I didn't mean to be an ass to the people who came storming into my home and ruining everything!" He finished in a yell as he swiped egg and oatmeal off his wall and threw it into the sink. "Jesus, all I want is a moment of peace and fucking quiet but no! They're here all the time! Constantly! Noise, noise, noise! I can't take this anymore! I just got out of the damned hospital and here I am herding a bunch of _adults_ around like they're children!" He slumped down into a chair and growled at the food littering the table in front of him. Everything was a massive wreck and his nerves just couldn't take that right now.

He felt gentle lips touch his forehead a moment later and he jerked upright to look up at Katara. She smiled sadly at him, and his heart wrenched at the glittering diamonds resting lightly on her long dark lashes.

"I'm so sorry Zuko." Was all she said as she feathered another kiss along his brow, grabbed her bag, and disappeared around the corner towards the front door.

"Katara?" Zuko asked as he slowly pushed himself to his feet when he heard his front door shut. His body hurt worse than it had since he'd left the hospital after his little fit of temper but he staggered towards the door regardless of the pain. He jerked the door wide. His water-bender was nowhere to be seen. "Katara?" He yelled down the street, searching every direction for any sign of her or her car. His heart twisted and sank into the deepest part of his stomach as he stared down the street, hoping, wishing for her to round the corner and come back to him.

"Piss and vinegar." He sighed as he turned back around and went back inside. He gazed at the kitchen and suddenly the silence seemed oppressive as he stared at the mess made.

"Why am I so bad at this?" He muttered to himself as he started to slowly clamber his way up the stairs to his room to check his wounds. He wanted to make sure he hadn't been an absolute idiot and undid all of the hard work the doctors had performed to keep him all in one piece. He sighed and laid down gently on his bed, after a quick glance in the mirror, and threw his arm over his eyes.

"May as well make the best of the quiet I've got right now. I'll call Katara tonight and fix everything." He said then promptly closed his mouth as he realized that there was no one to listen to him speak. He huffed softly then relaxed his muscles and absolved himself to take a little nap and settle his nerves a bit.

He woke groggily to a loud pounding on his door. It took him a second to situate himself in his surroundings before he shook his head and pushed himself off his bed. _Maybe they were already back?_ He thought as he pulled open his door, yawning ans scratching the back of his head. He was confused when he saw his uncle standing there, looking perplexed.

"Zuko, what happened to the kitchen?" Iroh asked as Zuko stared down at the older man, his mind drawing a complete blank.

"The kitchen?" Zuko asked, and Iroh arched a single brow at his nephew.

"Yes the kitchen. Why is there food all over the kitchen?" He elaborated and suddenly everything came rushing back to Zuko. He flinched slightly and let his hand fall from his hair to his side.

"I'm sorry uncle. I meant to have it cleaned up before you got home. There was a bit of a, uh, situation earlier today. There was a food fight." Zuko explained even as he and his uncle moved off down the stairs to start cleaning.

"I can see the results, nephew." Iroh said as he gazed around at the still brightly colored smears of food across the walls and furniture. He glanced up when oatmeal dripped down in front of him and frowned when he saw a smattering of it on the ceiling, most of it already dry and caked on. "How did you get oatmeal on the ceiling?" He asked, no anger in his voice, merely curiosity. Zuko gazed upwards and found what his uncle was staring at. He snickered softly to himself. It really was quite funny now.

"Oatmeal bending." He chuckled and shook his head. "Don't worry, I'll get it." He said as he reached out to grab and chair he could stand on the reach the rather low ceilings.

"Oatmeal bending?" Iroh repeated, watching Zuko work. "I did not know such a thing was possible." Zuko only laughed a bit harder as his uncle spoke. He grinned down at the old man as he scraped at the sticky stuff.

"Katara invented it after Sokka threw a tomato at her head." He finished wiping the rest of the oatmeal off the ceiling and lowered himself to the floor once more, still grinning. "She actually just bent the water in it, but Aang got all excited afterward and started flinging oatmeal everywhere. It was war after that. I personally came down the stairs to an eye full of not-quite-cooked omelet." Zuko explained and Iroh shook his head.

"How did all of this get started?" He asked and Zuko shrugged, throwing omelet remains into the trash.

"No idea." He paused as he remembered the rest of the confrontation. "But I know how it ended." He said sadly and moved away to walk back up the stairs and grab his phone.

"Zuko? Everything alright?" Iroh called after him and Zuko murmured an affirmative. He closed his door behind him and snatched up his cell phone, quickly dialing Katara's number and waiting for her to answer.

"Hey!" Came her voice on the other side of the phone and Zuko sighed in relief.

"Katara! I'm so gl-" Zuko was cut off a second later.

"You've reached Katara's phone. I can't answer right now but if you would please leave your name, number and a message I'll call you back as soon as I can! Thank you!" The message continued and Zuko felt his heart drop like a stone. He waited for the recording to end and spoke softly, hoping she just wasn't near her phone and not avoiding him.

"Hey Katara, it's Zuko. Look, I'm really sorry about earlier today. I'm an ass, I know. Please call me back?" He waited a long moment before he sighed and hung up the phone. He hated sounding desperate, but he hated thinking she didn't want to talk to him more. His phone rang a few moments later and he answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Katara?" He asked hopefully.

"No such luck Sparky." Came Toph's rough voice and he slumped back down into his pillows once more.

"Hey Toph." he said dejectedly and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Ass." She muttered before continuing before he could comment. "Look I'm just calling to say that...I'm sorry about calling you Zuzu." She said and he could hear the anger in her tones that belied her apology. She hated being sorry for anything, much less expressing said feeling.

"No, I over-reacted. I'm the one who's sorry. I'm glad you've been around, really. It reminds me of old times." He said and he could practically hear her smile over the phone. "You were right, my temper is terrible. I didn't mean what I said I was just...I was so frustrated! So many people. I mean Toph, you know me. I hate having so much noise and crap going on!" He ranted as she laughed at him.

"I know, I know, you like to brood in silence." She commented and he huffed loudly.

"I do not brood." He snapped and she only laughed harder.

"Oh? Tell me you didn't sit in the dark talking to yourself after everyone stormed out?" She teased.

"I did not sit in the dark." Zuko growled unable to argue with any other parts of her statement.

"Yeah, you're probably right. You probably had candles going." He glanced to his left at several unlit candles and snorted. She really had him pegged. "Besides I'm sure Katara wouldn't have left you alone to brood anyways. Sugar Queen always worries too much." Toph huffed and Zuko frowned and sighed.

"She left." He murmured quietly, but as always, Toph heard him.

"What?" Came her cry of disbelief. "No way! Katara wouldn't just leave your side like that! Not after she's spent the entire week with you!." She cried and Zuko felt worse and worse with each word.

"Yeah she would shorty. I said some pretty awful things. That's why I hoped it was her when you called. I wanted to apologize."

"Jesus Zuko, why not just drive everyone away?" Toph snapped, and Zuko flinched.

"I didn't mean to okay! I was stressing out and I guess I just unloaded on her! I didn't say those things _about_ her I just said them _to_ her!" He defended and he heard Toph snort.

"Sugar Queen is sensitive, idiot, you should know that by now! She probably took all the nasty things you said to heart."

"Yeah I know! Which is why I was trying to call her to apologize!" He snapped again.

"Hey, don't get snappy with me Sparky. I just calls 'em like I sees 'em." He groaned at her reply.

"Look, are you coming over for dinner tomorrow or what?" He asked exasperated as Toph snickered on the other side of the phone.

"Yeah I'll be there. Unless you try to throw a temper tantrum again that is." She paused. "Can Aang come too?" Her voice was quiet, and Zuko couldn't help but smile as he remembered the Toph that had come to live with them years ago. Quiet, meek, but just learning how to stand up for herself.

"Yeah. He can come. I'm sorry again, but I won't blow up like that anymore. Not at you guys at least." He promsied.

"Make sure Katara knows that. See ya tomorrow Sparky."

"See you." And the line went dead in his hands. He sighed softly and stared at his phone, trying to will Katara to call him so he could grovel properly. No such luck. He grunted as he pushed himself off his bed once more and went down the stairs to help Iroh finish the cleaning that was left.

Dinner was quiet (Zuko had slept through lunch) between the two fire-benders. Part of Zuko was reveling in it, the other part of him was miserable. He could live without Sokka and Suki, without Aang, hell he even needed a break from his little 'sister' Toph sometimes, but he never seemed to get sick of Katara.

"Are you alright nephew? Is the food not good?" Iroh was asking as Zuko scraped most of his dinner into the trash. He sighed softly and placed his dish in the sink.

"How do you apologize to girls?" Zuko blurted after a moment then hit his forehead with his fist. Iroh smiled.

"The same way you would apologize to anyone else. Sincerely." Iroh said and Zuko just blinked at him for a second.

"I was sincere! I even left her a message saying how sorry I was." He said throwing his hand in the air and stalking off to begin pacing.

"Do you think that is enough? A phone message?" Came Iroh's inquiry and Zuko paused in his movements. He turned slowly to look at his uncle.

"I should do more?" It was a question, one to which Iroh chuckled.

"I simply asked if you thought you had done enough." Was all he volunteered. Zuko stood there for a long minute before he snapped his fingers and bolted up the stairs, only to hiss when his wound pulled tight from his movements. Most of the stitches had already been removed, it may have been a long wound that bled freely, but it had been miraculously shallow for all it's seriousness. He pressed his hand to his chest and sighed softly, wishing for cool water to calm his burning flesh. He shook his head and continued on his way towards the office upstairs and the computer in it.

His fingers flew over the keys as he searched for local flower shops and then stopped dead in his tracks. He didn't know her address. The warehouse! He could send it to her there. But then everyone would know. Everyone knew anyways, so what did it matter? He banged his head against the desk and sighed softly. He sat back and stared at the many different types of flowers he could send to her. He opened another tab on his browser and went through all the different meanings to the different flowers.

_Something blue._ He thought as the glittering sapphires that were her eyes sparkled behind his vision. _Maybe white too._ He stared at countless flower arrangements and the countless flower types and sighed. A violet rose caught his eye and he smiled slightly. It wasn't blue, but it was a mix of the colors from both of their nations and that seemed far more symbolic to him. He read the description next and his jaw nearly hit the floor.

"_Sending this color rose says that you find the recipient as enchanting as the lavender rose. The light purple rose is a good choice if you want to express love at first sight. Lavender can also express deep love and is a novel color to give your love to express the depths of your love._" The site read and Zuko swallowed loudly, staring at the words in front of him.

"That's an awful lot of love." He muttered to himself but sighed anyways and clicked the button. Other colors caught his eye as well as he looked through all of the different flowers. He decided that white and blue roses were good as well. If he was going to send love, he may as well be honest about it. His cursor hovered over the 'Purchase' button before he sighed and confirmed his order. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands gently over his face. He massaged his scar for a second, easing some of the latent pain out of it and closed his eyes.

"Feel better?" He heard a voice ask behind him and spun around in the chair to see his uncle standing, framed in the doorway. Zuko groaned and threw his arm over his eyes.

"I don't know." He admitted around clenched teeth. "I guess? I don't even know if she will accept my gift. She might just throw it out the window." The sorrow in his voice was overlaid with a tint of wry humour. Iroh smiled and patted Zuko on his shoulder.

"It will be alright nephew. She will come around. Sometimes you have to let something go in order to find out if it is truly yours or not." He said wisely and Zuko quirked his good brow at his uncle.

"Uh-huh." He sighed and shook his head. He didn't understand his uncle half the time. It bugged the hell out of him. But what made it worse was that his uncle was rarely ever wrong when he spouted off some vague philosophical saying. Zuko let his head droop against the desk and Iroh continued to pat his back.

"Perhaps you should go lie down nephew? Let your body rest so your wound can heal." Iroh murmured and Zuko nodded before pushing himself up and staggering to his bed for the night. He hit his pillow face first and didn't move, though his mind buzzed with thoughts and worries.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I can't take it anymore Sokka!" Zuko hissed into the phone as he paced back and forth across his kitchen.

"Look man, my sister is sensitive." Sokka said, and Zuko had the distinct feeling the water tribe man wasn't paying a bit of attention to the problem at hand.

"Yeah. I know. I get that. But a week? She hasn't spoken to me in a week!" He snapped.

"Well you were pretty mean."

"I've apologized to everyone! Sincerely! She's the only one who won't come around!"

"Yeah well, I hate to break it to you, but, we don't love you. I mean, don't get me wrong man, you're fuckin' awesome, but I sure as hell don't love you. You kind of broke her heart, and the only reason I haven't skinned you yet is because you're actually trying to make it right." Sokka explained and Zuko stopped dead in his tracks.

"Wait...what?"

"Wow, Toph was right. You can be really dense." Sokka said and Zuko growled. Sokka only laughed. "It's true! I mean, I'm pretty oblivious, but I knew when Suki loved me. It was the most obvious thing in the world. Katara is not a subtle person dude, she's kind of right there in your face. Either you're blind, or you just don't want to see it." Sokka paused and Zuko leaned forward slightly, as if to make sure to catch every word Sokka spoke. "My sister is in love with you." Zuko's heart nearly stopped.

"She what?" Why couldn't he speak?

"She's in love with you, Jeezus. Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Maybe..." Sokka laughed loudly in Zuko's ear at his response and Zuko jerked the phone away from his head. He pinched the bridge of his nose and drew several deep calming breaths before he tried to speak again.

"She loves me." He asked.

"As the day is long." Her brother replied. Zuko wasn't too sure what it meant, but knowing Sokka it was an affirmative of sorts.

"When did you-"

"When she molested your face." Sokka cut him off and Zuko stifled a chuckle.

"She didn't molest my face." He snickered.

"Man! Come on now! She practically climbed you to get to your scar!" Sokka shouted and Zuko laughed louder, remembering the event fondly.

"I've never had someone react to my scar like that." Zuko admitted and Sokka quieted down.

"Yeah well, our dad was in the military. He and the other soldiers would come home with all kinds of battle wounds on their bodies. Katara's a healer, so she spent the most time with them, 'cause she was the only healer we had, see? I guess she developed a morbid fascination for scars. She would always rant and rave about how she could heal them if given the right water and enough time." At those words Zuko felt his heart trip over itself then plunge down into the hollow of his stomach.

"She's a healer?" Zuko asked and Sokka sighed loudly and dramatically over the phone.

"What did I just say?" Sokka snapped.

"I'm sorry, it's just-" Zuko paused, losing his words. "Man, can we meet somewhere? I'd really like to talk face-to-face. I hate talking over the phone." He asked hopefully, his tone was almost -but not quite- begging. He heard Sokka sigh softly, mutter something under his breath, and acquiesce to the request. "Thanks man. When and where?"

"Suki works at a dojo downtown and we're having lunch today. She has to be back by 1:30 so meet me in the park by then." He groused and hung up. Zuko stared at his phone.

"What is it with people and hanging up on me?" He demanded of the air. He glanced at his clock before deciding to clean up a bit before he left.

He had let his appearance become sloppy over the past week. He rarely styled his hair anymore or really shaved his face. He had a shadow of a goatee now, and dark circles under his eyes from sleeplessness and worrying. He sighed as he rummaged around in his dresser and jerked out a rumpled shirt and a pair of pants. He really didn't care currently. He jerked on his old leather jacket and snatched his keys from his nightstand.

"I'll be back uncle. I'm going to talk to Sokka and see if I can straighten things out with Katara." He said moodily as he trudged through the house. Iroh poked his head around the corner to watched his downtrodden nephew and frowned sadly.

"Be safe." He said softly as Zuko nodded and closed the door.

His ride was fast and terrifying and thrilling and his heart hammered wildly into his chest as he cut of trucks five times the size of his Monster. He tore through the streets, his brain racing to process the things his eyes saw and keep him alive. He felt alive. This was one of the few times he felt like himself anymore, one of the few times he pushed the thoughts of Katara out of his mind.

It wasn't long until he made it to the park, in one piece, and all those thoughts caught up with him. He sighed as he picked a bench near the park entrance and slumped down into it. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a pack of clove cigarettes, he took one out and lit it, taking a long drag. He sighed softly, smoke billowing out around him, spiraling around him as it danced and twisted in intricate patterns until it disappeared on the wind.

He wasn't one who smoked, usually, but the clove tasted good, it numbed his tongue and his lips and he could imagine that feeling coating his mind as well. He felt pathetic, dismal, pining away after a girl he wasn't even dating, had only shared a few moments of intimacy with. He took another drag, releasing the air through his nose like a dragon.

"You look like hell." A voice said to his left, and Zuko swung his head around to look at Sokka who was dressed surprisingly normal today, jeans with no holes and a t-shirt that only bore one stain.

"You look normal." Zuko replied, turning his face away once more to stare at the curling smoke of his clove. He toyed with the cherry a moment, pushing it higher and lower with just a thought.

"Yeah well, I didn't want to embarrass Suki in front of people." Sokka shrugged and sat next to Zuko and watched the fire-bender from the corner of his eye. "You ok man?" He asked sincerely and Zuko sighed softly, inhaling smoke once more.

"Truthfully?" He asked, and Sokka nodded. He released smoke. "No. I'm not ok. I've never been like this before. I've never missed a girl this much. I mean, I haven't slept my way around the city or anything, but I've had girlfriends. Mai was my last serious one, and I never missed her as bad as I miss Katara." He admitted slowly although he didn't think about the words he said he just let them flow. He was slowly realizing that he might love her too.

"You love her." Sokka said echoing Zuko's thoughts. Zuko scoffed.

"After a couple of weeks?" He asked incredulously, his good eyebrow quirked at the water tribe man. Sokka shrugged.

"Ever head of love at first sight?" He counter and Zuko scoffed again.

"A myth." He hissed but Sokka was shaking his head. "Oh really?" Disbelief was heavy in his voice.

"I loved Yue the moment I met her." Sokka admitted and Zuko stared at him.

"Then why are you with Suki?"

"Yue died a couple years ago. She was the daughter of the Ambassador from the Northern Water Tribe. She was taken hostage by some fire nations scumbags to be ransomed off for ridiculous amounts of money. Her father asked me to try and get her back. She was severely injured in the process. I wasn't a fighter back then. I was just a kid in love with a girl. I'm still not a fighter, but I gave her all that I had and it wasn't enough. I brought her back though. Katara tried to heal her, but her wounds were too great and my sister was still too knew at healing. She died in my arms. Wanna know what her last words to me were?" Zuko slowly nodded his head, his eyes wide, enthralled in the story. "I love you." Sokka gave a pained laugh and shook his head. "I had known her a grand total of ten days and she loved me, and I loved her, and I would never see her again."

His shoulders slumped and Zuko sat there awkwardly for a moment before he reached his hand up and patted Sokka heavily on the shoulder. "I'm sorry man." He murmured even while Sokka's words rolled through his mind like a tidal wave. Was it really possible? Was he capable of such love?

Sokka cleared his throat and sat up, his eyes were shiny but not one tear fell. Zuko gave him props for his show of strength in keeping himself together.

"So yeah. Love at first sight is possible." He said, and Zuko believed him without a shadow of a doubt. "I love Suki as much as any man could. But I will never forget Yue or the spot she holds in my heart." He glanced at Zuko and grinned slightly, a hint of his playful self reflecting in his icy blue eyes. "I think my baby sister is your Yue." He snickered. Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Please don't say baby, I feel like a perv." He said but before another word could be spoke a shout was heard.

"Back the fuck off!" The voice screamed. It was a feminine voice. A familiar voice. Zuko was on his feet in an instant.

XXXXX One Week Prior XXXXX

Katara fled from Zuko's kitchen, tears blurring her vision and a tightness settling heavy and painful in her heart. Her footfalls pounded heavily against the pavement as she ran down the street to where her little blue sedan was parked, just around the corner from Zuko's house. She felt the hot burn of tears rolling down her flushed cheeks as she finally reached her car and jammed her key in the door to open it. She rested her forehead against the steering wheel for a moment before she scrubbed at her eyes and drove away.

The first day she had been alright, cleaning their warehouse like a woman possessed. She even managed to get the cobwebs up in the highest rafters. She had managed to take her mind off the words Zuko had spoken, not at her but in anger and hurting her feelings regardless. She didn't want to crowd him, she didn't want to be part of the problem, and it scared her to death to think that she was. What scared her more, however, was the idea that she cared so much about a man and his thoughts towards her.

The flowers had come then, delivered by an awkward teenager driving an old beat up truck that had seen far more worse days than better. He had staggered in calling her name and had handed her the most beautiful bouquet of flowers she had ever seen. She stared at the soft colors of her home and new tears filled her eyes. The boy told her who they were from and her tears broke free from her limited self control to cascade down her face in sparkling rivers.

She had almost called him after that. She stopped herself, telling herself it was far too soon. He needed time away from them all, and she was going to give that to him, no matter how sweet he was, or how sincere he sounded in the messages he left (and he left quite a few). She didn't want to be yelled at again. She had had enough of that kind of abuse in her life. And while she didn't consider Zuko abusive, she didn't want to start considering him abusive either. That thought would kill her.

She didn't return his calls over the next few days. She ignored him entirely, cringed when Toph said she had gone to dinner and had taken Aang with her. She almost cried when her brother told her Zuko was asking about her, and that he missed her. She wouldn't budge from her position however. He needed space. He needed to calm down and think about things.

She didn't want to be rejected again. Not by Zuko. She knew it would break her heart.

She ferreted all of his gifts away in her room. Hid them under scraps of fabric and clothes. Placed them behind vanity mirrors and doors. He sent bouquet after bouquet of beautiful flower arrangements. Flowers of every color and shape. All of them meaning love and forgiveness. He was asking her in flowers and gifts to forgive him. To love him.

She cried rivers of tears, but could not bring herself to contact him. She had been rejected before. She had known that hurt that comes from a lover saying they no longer wanted to be with you. But she and Zuko weren't even together. Not really. To be told she wasn't wanted when they weren't even dating? She didn't even know why she was bothering to feel so sad about the whole situation.

Because something about the stupid fire-bender had captured her heart like a little bird fluttering uselessly in it's pretty little cage. Her tears turned to anger around the third day.

He was sorry? He had no idea what sorry was! Katara paced around her room, glaring at all the beautiful flowers. Where the hell was Zuko? If he were truly sorry he would come down himself and apologize. She glared at the flowers, but couldn't bring herself to get rid of them.

For the next two days she yelled at anyone anytime they mentioned _his_ name. She railed at her brother for being a 'traitor' and sticking up for _him_ instead of his own sister. She and Toph got into a vicious fight one morning as Katara screamed about how awful Zuko was and how could Toph forgive him so easily.

They nearly destroyed a park. It took them all of the next day to clean up the mess they had made. Katara's anger abated as she worked, digging her hands into the soft earth and feeling the push and pull of the water, the life of her element, flowing through her body as she moved water back into the lake she had depleted.

On the sixth day she was ready to forgive Zuko, but she wasn't ready to talk to him just yet. Being friends wouldn't be awful, she concluded. Not what she wanted by a long shot, but he was important enough to her that she could settle for being 'just a friend.' She sighed at that thought. It never seemed to get any easier to think, or to feel, but she was determined now. She would be there for Zuko, however he wished to have her. She was a strong, independent woman and she would always be, but she loved Zuko. She knew that now. How else could she explain the hurt she felt? The joy she had when in his presence. The way her heart tumbled over itself when he would brush tender little kisses over her lips, or cheek, or brow. How utterly desolate she felt without him.

One week after she had stopped talking to Zuko, Katara had decided to go for a walk in the park she and Toph had destroyed and rebuilt. She smiled at the work they had put into it. Her gaze traveled over the sparkling water in the pond she had refilled. She laughed when she recalled the wave she had used to douse the little earth-bender, and the subsequent mud fight that had occurred because of the soaking.

She paused in her musings when she spotted a woman in front of her, long, tall and willowy, and dressed entirely in black. She blinked as two yellow eyes cut a glare at her but shrugged and moved to step around the woman. She moved with Katara. The water-bender frowned deeply.

"Excuse me." She said politely, though she really just wanted the woman to go away.

"There is no excuse for you." The woman in black hissed and two throwing needles appeared at Katara's feet. She staggered backwards and pulled water from the pond once more. She winced when she thought about having to refill it again, but all thoughts scattered when more darts slammed into her ice shield.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Katara demanded as she ducked and weaved with her water, trying to keep herself from becoming a pin cushion.

"I hate you." The other woman countered as a knife appeared in her hand and she slashed at Katara's face. Katara staggered backwards but caught her balance and shoved the other woman away with a long, thick arm of water.

"I don't even know you!" Katara shouted as she pulled more water to her aid. "Back the fuck off!" She heard footsteps behind her and spun to intercept a bouncy woman in all pink as she came flipping and twisting through the air. Water caught her foot as Katara flung her away like a rag doll and snarled.

"I don't want to hurt you two." She hissed as she spun and crouched low. When she brought her arms up again several 'arms' of water flicked and waved around her, like a giant octopus. She blocked attack after attack. Needles and daggers, vicious kicks and punches, all aimed for vital pressure points, Katara blocked as the two girls continued to attack.

The tip of a knuckle grazed the juncture between her shoulder and her neck and Katara felt her left side go numb. Half of her octopus form flooded away. She yelped loudly and snapped a whip of water against the girl's side, sending her flying away only to land heavily on the ground. Katara turned her attention back to the girl in black, but not fast enough. Twin needles slammed home into the front of her other shoulder and Katara cried in pain. The other girl took her time approaching Katara as she lay curled on the ground, half of her numb, half of her in pain. She looked up through watering eyes to see the dark woman approach her, a knife glinting in her hand. Then suddenly she was gone, and Katara tried to push away the pain. She saw Zuko and her heart immediately leapt into her throat.

Her brother was there a second later, gently lifting her into his arms and berating her for picking fights with strangers. "It's almost as bad as taking their candy!" He yelled and she laughed softly. His eyes softened and he glanced over his shoulder at Zuko.

Zuko wrestled with Mai for a moment, before he managed to pin her arms above her head against a tree. He snarled in her face and for the first time, something akin to fear flickered behind her eyes.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He asked, voice low and serious, threatening. Mai struggled half-heartedly.

"Trying to get you away from that slut." She hissed then grimaced when his grip tightened painfully on her arms.

"You will stay away from her." He said, lowering his face somewhat so they saw eye-to-eye. "You are apart of the past I don't want to remember, Mai. I have a new life, new friends and a girl I don't have to worry about wanting to stab me when I sleep. In fact-" He chuckled somewhat humourlessly. "She even likes me. She wants to take care of me when I'm injured, instead of bitching about how boring I am." He leaned a bit closer so their foreheads almost touched, and Mai wished all was as it used to be and it was Zuko being endearing and not threatening. "We are done Mai. We have been done for a long time. Go away." He released her hands and took a step back, unwilling to take his eyes off of her for even a moment.

"Go home. Do something productive with your time, instead of being Azula's little puppet." He said and finally turned away. Ty Lee limped up to her friend and laid her hand gently on Mai's arm. She glanced down at her injured friend and heaved a great sigh, before looping her arm under Ty Lee's shoulder and helping her to hobble away.

"Are you done?" The acrobat asked, but Mai merely shook her head.

"No. But I'm taking a break." She replied.

Sokka stared aghast at his new buddy. "How could you just let them go?" He demanded, waving at his sister lying in his lap, glaring up at him.

"Sokka, shut up." She said softly, but he didn't.

"They tried to kill her!" He shouted and Zuko waved his concern away. He knelt down and gently shifted Katara into his lap instead. Sokka visibly bristled.

"If Mai had really wanted to have killed her, Katara would have had a knife in her heart before she even saw Mai." He glanced up at the water-tribe man. "Mai doesn't miss. And truthfully she isn't a bad person. Just horribly mislead." He stroked a hand through Katara's hair and smiled down at her. She gave him a watery one in return.

"Hey pretty lady." He said softly and she laughed at him.

"Hey yourself." She snickered back. Zuko's hand slowly traveled to her numb shoulder and began to work circulation back into it.

"Oh so you're talking to me now, huh?" He asked with a grin and Katara felt her fingers flush with blood once more. She sighed softly and smiled.

"I mean, you did just kind of save me." She muttered as she felt his warm hands slide over to her other shoulder and press gently on the muscles surrounding the needles. Katara hissed in pain, but suddenly the needles were gone, and while blood began to flow freely, it felt better. She glanced up at Zuko and quirked her eyebrow at him.

"Kind of." He muttered but continued to rub her arms and shoulders, while keeping pressure on her puncture wounds. He grinned at her. "Right." She laughed outright at this and shook her head.

"Well you did let them go." She murmured and let herself fall into the heat that was Zuko's body.

"Like I said. They aren't bad people. Just horribly mislead by my sister."

"Your sister can't be that bad." Katara murmured then squeaked when she felt his arms slide beneath her and lift her into the air. She clung to him.

"Keep your hand on that wound. At least until we get to the hospital." He said as he brushed a kiss across her temple. Her heart flopped and she frowned softly. She could feel his heart hammering wildly in his chest, threatening to break free of it's boney cage.

"Are you alright?" She asked, pressing her hand to his chest instead. He smiled at her.

"You scared me." He squeezed a bit tighter and hitched her up a bit higher in his arms. "You scared the life out of me. I was so afraid she hit your heart. I almost hit a girl." He chuckled and Katara glanced at him.

"You've never hit a woman?" She asked and he cut his eyes to her.

"I may have been a horrible person back in my youth-" She snorted at the word and he rolled his eyes. "But I have always had honour. Even when I was...doing things for Ozai, I never hurt a woman or a child." He said, but the pause made Katara take a really good look at him. He was many things, had been many things in his past. He had probably done some of the more terrible things that had appeared on the news late at night. But now he was walking through a park, holding her so tenderly in his arms, trying not to jar her wounds, and taking her to a hospital. He was right. He had left his past behind.

"Z-Zuko?" She asked, his name trembling on her lips like a leave in the wind. He glanced down at her, smiling softly.

"Yea Katara?" He breathed.

"I...I love you." she said softly, voice barely a whisper so Zuko had to bend his head to catch the words. He smiled and so did she and he snuck in to steal a kiss. She blinked at him.

"What was that for?" She asked, slightly bewildered. He chuckled.

"I had to steal that smile somehow." He said, charming grin in place, his eyes twinkling. She laughed. He kissed her again.

"I love you too." He murmured against her cheek and she felt her face flush. He snickered. "I thought I had gotten that through to you with all the flowers! I can't tell you how many different kinds of flowers there are!" He griped and she laughed even louder. Sokka made quiet gagging motions behind them.

"I guess it's my turn to take care of you now huh?" He suddenly asked, and Katara beamed brightly at him.

"I promise I won't yell at you." She said snidely, wry smile on her lips. He staggered a step and she squeaked. He smiled.

"Oops. My bad." He chuckled and she slapped at his chest.

"Jerk-bender!" She cried and he only laughed louder.

She truly wished that moments like this would never end.

**Author's note: -sheepish- H-hey! Haha...so...you can look at this either one of two ways...either "Hey! She posted before the weekend! She's early!" Or..."She's kept us waiting for a month. She's HORRIBLY late..."**

**Haha...either way you're right! ha...ha...**

…

**I AM SO SORRY!**

**I would promise to try and be better, but what with finals coming up I may be disappearing again for a little while. At least until May. I will try to get another chapter up, but I make no promises. Sorry guys. Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be even better!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: Wow, real life will sneak right up on you and punch you square in the box! **

**Disclaim: You know the drill. -grin- These poor characters are not mine. I simply take their little worlds and fuck 'em up royally.**

Katara sat very quietly in the study of her apartment. One of her favorite romance novels was propped up on her folded knees and she was entranced with her world of dark heroes and wild women who didn't really need saving. She loved how the men were big and rough and just as wild as the women. She loved how they man-handled their brides-to-be into submission and didn't take 'no' for an answer. She would never admit that to anyone, ever, so long as she lived but she secretly envied these women. She blushed slightly at a particularly raunchy scene in her book and nibbled on her lower lip for a moment before the ring of her phone nearly scared her out of her skin.

Cursing she scrambled for her phone and pounced on it, mashing buttons frantically before finally hitting the 'send' button and answering.

"Hello?" She said, possibly a bit too loudly.

"Hey Katara!" Came Aang's chipper voice and she smiled slightly.

"What's up, hon?" She asked gently, shifting back to her reclined position.

"Toph and I have a half day in class today and we're wondering if you'd like to meet us for lunch? You know, since everyone hasn't been together in a while?" He asked, a bit sheepishly and Katara couldn't help the smile.

"Want me to call Sokka and Zuko?" She replied and she swore she heard his fist pump.

"Yeah!" He cried. "That would be great! We'll meet you guys downtown? About an hour?" He was all but bouncing in his seat now.

"Sure! Let me call everyone and we'll meet you there." She laughed and pushed herself off of her seat.

"Yes! See you!" He sang right before hanging up on her. Katara laughed at his excitement and shook her head gently. She punched in the buttons for her brother's cell first and told him the plan. After conferring -conferring being the art of her brother yelling across his house- with Suki briefly they agreed to the time and place and hung up. She smiled as she looked up Zuko's number and pressed 'call' quickly.

"Hey pretty lady." He answered with his deep voice, and for a brief, shining moment Katara felt like she was in her novel.

"Hey you." She smiled into the phone, hoping he heard her joy. "Got a question for ya."

"Anything you want." He purred and her toes curled slightly. She cleared her throat, however, and opted for a more serious tone.

"You dweeb." She chastised and he laughed. "Want to meet everyone for lunch today? Downtown? Aang and Toph have a break in classes, and I kind of miss everyone."

"That sounds good to me. Want me to come get you? It's a perfect day for riding." He wheedled and she felt herself cave instantly.

"Let me throw on pants and boots and I'll be ready." She said quickly, a huge smile plastered onto her face.

"I'd best hurry before you are pants-ed." He teased and she squeaked slightly.

"Pervert!" She laughed and bid her farewells before leaping out of her seat and practically ripping off her pajama pants in favor of a pair of jeans that had been "well loved", according to her brother. She stuffed her pants into a pair of tall boots and leapt down the stairs bypassing two and three at a time. She jerked her jacket out of the hall closet and had it zipped before she was even out of the door. Katara was turning the key in her lock when she paused slightly, hearing the roar of his engine coming towards her. It wasn't really a matter of how close he lived, it was simply a matter of how fast he drove.

Katara stood on the sidewalk with her small, tattered backpack hanging loosely off her shoulder as his sleek black Monster slid gracefully to a stop next to her. She secretly did a little happy dance in her head when he pulled off his helmet and she was met with those burning golden eyes. Time seemed to slow for a moment as a smile, small and a bit insecure, slowly spread across his lips and she was lost.

"Ready to go?" He asked and he handed her a helmet.

"Yeah, I am." She muttered a bit breathlessly as she slipped the helmet over her head and threw her leg over his bike to slide in behind him.

Zuko felt his heart nearly skip a beat as he felt her soft curves press against his back. He greatly cursed the leather covering his torso at the moment, but it did little to dampen his imagination, or his memory. Her slender arms wrapped around his waist as she settled in behind him and her long legs brushed the backs of his. A shiver ran down his spine and he realized, sadly, how long it had been since he'd touched her soft skin, or laid a burning kiss across her lips.

The ride felt like it was over before it had even really begun. Far too soon they were pulling up next to a little cafe down the road from the local university. Zuko groaned gently when the heat from her body left him. Before she could move too far away from him however, he pulled off his helmet and reached out to grab her wrist. She turned to look at him, helmet dangling from her fingers, her lips parted gently, and he felt his heart break with how beautiful she was.

"Zuko?" She began, but he tugged on her gently and his lips pressed against hers. Softly, at first, and then his urgency came to the forefront. He pulled her towards him, so she was half resting on the tank of the bike. She squeaked softly as her eyes searched his briefly before she leaned in for another kiss. She felt protected, safe, as his strong arms wrapped around her body and held her close to his chest. He kissed her like she was water and he was a man dying of thirst. She couldn't help the small giggle that escaped at that thought. Zuko paused for a second and looked at her carefully, eyebrow furrowed. She only laughed more.

"I had a funny thought." She snickered and he squeezed her sides gently to prod her to answer. "The way you were kissing me. I just think it's funny that fire finds such comfort in water." She explained, a very slight blush painting her cheeks. He merely smiled.

"You soothe the burn." He said as he nuzzled her neck.

"Come on," She said as she slid off the gas tank and pulled him along with her. "We have to meet everyone." He grinned and followed after her into the crowded cafe. They were quickly waved over by a very excited air bender bouncing up and down in his seat. Toph sat next to him, eyes downcast, sipping on her soda in the most nonchalant manner she could manage.

"Hey guys!" Aang cheered as he nearly vibrated out of his skin. He tackled Katara with a hug to which she laughed and patted his back gently. He then rounded on Zuko and the firebender felt the pit of his stomach drop. He tried to dodge, but the air-kid was too fast. He felt a smaller body latch onto his and he was hugged before he could even really react. It felt like a knife wound, open and raw.

"Yeah yeah, good to see you too." He groused as Aang flopped back into his seat like he'd won an award. He ruffled Toph's hair in a brotherly way, received many threats in response, and smiled when Katara scooted in close to him. He slipped his arm around her shoulders just in time for Sokka to arrive and deliver a pinch to his arm. It would have hurt, had he not been wearing his jacket. Zuko said as much to Sokka who merely frowned.

"Yeah well, that was only a warning." He snapped, sulking into a seat as Suki sat next to him, grinning to herself.

"Ahh, duly noted." Zuko chuckled as the group around him buzzed in excitement. It really had been a long time since everyone had gathered together. What with Aang and Toph back in school for the fall, and Katara taking online classes, the band had fallen to the way-side. Fortunately, the friendship hadn't. They all managed to slip back into that perfect niche and continue right where they had left off.

Aang gushed about his classes, and how excited he was to be studying Ancient History. Toph even piped up about her own itinerary, and how much it didn't suck. Her geology professors actually knew what they were talking about this year. The budding couple even had a few general education courses together.

"I've been really enjoying architecture." Toph said softly, playing with the straw in her drink. "They actually had to dig out all of the old modeling supplies for me, but so far my teacher likes my designs the most." A small smile played on her lips at the boast as congratulations were given by all.

"You always did make awesome sand castles." Zuko said softly. Toph flicked an ice-cube at him and he laughed.

"You really did meet her young." Suki said as she nibbled at her sandwich.

"Yeah. Still a snot-nosed little brat." This time Zuko laughed outright as another ice cube bounced off his shoulder.

"Arrogant jerk." Toph groused, only to be hugged by Aang and completely derailed from her anger. A smile lit her face and the group settled once more into amiable chatter.

It had been months since the attack. Months since they had fretted about anything other than daily life. Zuko was getting used to it, a thought that scared him more than he would ever admit. He looked down at Katara, and smiled at the light in her blue, blue eyes. Her brightness was astounding to him, even still. She lit up from the inside and made all those around her shine as well. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss upon her cheek.

Katara faltered for a moment and stared at Zuko, wide-eyed.

"What was that for?" She asked as the conversation continued around them. Only she and Zuko existed in that moment. It was a common thought, one she was quickly getting used to. A thought she really liked.

"Because you're wonderful." He said softly, nuzzling her hair and kissing the shell of her ear. He felt her shiver. "I love you." He breathed into the sensitive skin at her neck. Her fingers sought his and wrapped themselves around his hand in a hold he would never willingly break.

"I love you too." She whispered back, looking up at him through long black lashes.

"What say we blow this joint?" He grinned and Katara stifled a laugh.

"What about everyone else?" She whispered back, only to be cut off by a scoff.

"Because we can't see you two love-birds huddled together whispering sweet nothings to one another." Sokka bit out, but his smile belied his words.

"Or hear you." Toph added with a smirk.

"Ew, really?" Sokka asked, but flailed about and shook his head. "No! My point is, you guys should go somewhere else. A date or something. Let the rest of us finish eating before we all have to choke on the sugary goodness you're pouring all over everything." He finished his rant and pinned his sister with a knowing stare. As knowing as her brother could get, at least.

"But-" She began, but Zuko nudged her arm.

"How often are we going to have an approved date from your brother?" He questioned, raising his one good brow. "Think about it." He urged and Katara stared for a moment.

"See you guys later." She said as she practically jumped from her seat and dragged Zuko away to his bike.

"Where to my lady?" He asked as he donned his helmet again and swung his leg over his bike.

"Long term or short?" Katara returned and he gave her a confused glance over his shoulder.

"Uhh, both?"

"Long term, my place. Short term, just drive." She smiled and nestled into his back, once more wrapping her arms around him. Zuko sighed softly, a happy sigh, and started the engine. He would drive her around the world if it meant he could stay by her side. If it meant they could stay like this, stay together, he would do everything in his power to keep her his.

**End Note: This is so short...and late. I'm so very sorry. But I'm pleased with what it is. A bit of fluff until I can crank out another chapter. A teaser, if you will.**

**By the way, I must make note of several things here. The first of which being this:**

**AnnaAza: From the beginning, thank you very much!**

**Aipom4: Here's a little less waiting! ^_^**

**femensqueterror: Thank you very much for the kind words! They helped, a lot!**

**ItsRainingSideway: Tada! Since you posted it three times, it was surely important! Haha**

**Wishingonmy: Thank you so much! I appreciate good feedback!**

**riseANDrevolt: -The highest of fives- Thank you for your wonderful reviews! They truly helped to inspire more!**

**And to all others I didn't name, you are incredibly appreciated! I didn't think I would ever post on this again, but I've gotten the feeling back into my fingers, and several new ideas for this old story. Thank you all, so much, again!**

**~Alex**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:/ Hello all, I know some of you have been waiting for a while for me to post to this story. I'm very sad to say that this particular story will probably never be finished (I have tears in my eyes as I write this). The instances and experiences I was going through when I started this story influenced it majorly, but those experiences have changed, not for better or worse, but just changed. I've lost the spark for this story, and as much as I loved it, and as much as I had planned, I just can't keep it up. It feels fake and hollow to me, and I hate that when writing.**

**So, for better or worse this is the end! For those of you who are curious about the ending just send me a message, or review and I'll let you know. I thought about posting it here, maybe I will, what do you guys think? Anyways, thank you for all of your wonderful reviews, kind words and critiques, they've meant the world to me. I'm not disappearing, I'll be posting other works up here, it's just this one that's dead. So keep an eye out for me! My Newest Story is "Highland Games", a Brave story. *shameless plug***

**Take care all, and thank you again for your support!**

**~Alex**


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